Night's Children: Acteus Reus
by Nymbis
Summary: Book Four. Imy’s behavior lately has been less than impressive, and her fellow Daughters of the Moon think that she’s not taking the job seriously. Things become further complicated when a new girl appears, one that’s bringing out the darker side of Imy
1. Prologue: Ananke

_Night's Children: Acteus Reus _

_**Wrongful Act.**_

**Summary: **Book four. Imy's behavior lately has been less than impressive, and her fellow DOTM think that she's not taking the job seriously. Things become further complicated when a new girl appears, one that's bringing out the darker side of Imy.

**AN: **I have no self-restraint. At all.

_**Prologue: Ananke**_

_It is easily argued that the supreme factor that rules over all mankind are the inevitable choices brought upon by necessity. It is the driving force, and the one aspect of life that mankind is powerless to fight against. Even Fate, its child, rightfully fears it. This factor is called Ananke, or Destiny, and she rules over all paths and choices. She is the mother to the three sisters who sit and spin the threads of lives, the eldest snipping the strings when it is time for souls to depart for the next world. _

_Ananke is a fair goddess, one without bias or judgment. It is her solemn duty to restore and maintain the balance and trade of everyone, so that order in the universe prevails over chaos. A death, a life. A tear, a laugh. A sin, a punishment. This is her power._

_Long ago, there was a betrayal made by a Follower. Betrayals are the greatest of transgressions, one that gets a soul sent immediately to the depths of Tartarus, and betrayals of kin are the worst of that kind. By the time this betrayal was noticed by the goddess of Destiny, Ananke, it had long since avoided its rightful consequence of punishment. The Atrox, a being that hated Ananke and her children almost as much as the Moon and her Daughters, intervened with this instance, protecting its servant and hindering the great goddess. _

_Fifteen years ago, a child was born. A goddess of the moon, and the daughter of traitors. Ananke decided that this girl would be the one to bring the fleeing Follower of the Atrox back to its preordained path, and to restore harmony for both the sins of the Follower, and the sins of the daughter's parents._

_It was a heavy burden, but should the daughter falter, it was prophesized that Fate would be altered and a great darkness would overcome the world._


	2. Girl Scout Meeting

_Night's Children: Actues Reus_

**AN: **The names Taavo and Tsiro are taken from the Aztecan language. They mean Rabbit and Sparrow.

**Chapter One: Girl Scout Meeting**

"Now, breathe in," Came the instructive voice from a distance.

Slowly, one could hear four different breaths inhaling.

"Very good, now breathe out." The voice continued.

This time, three breaths were let loose evenly, and one came out as a stifled giggle.

A disgruntled sigh was heard as the voice said, "Imy," In a reproachful tone.

The group of five, sitting in a circle, all opened their eyes, and four pairs sent irritated stares to the one in question. Imy gave a lopsided smirk as she scratched the back of her neck, "Sorry," She muttered, "I just can't take this stuff seriously."

"The powers of Selene must be harnessed both physically _and_ mentally," Came the instructional voice from before, who was now identified as Jimena since everyone had opened their eyes, "Meditation provides an excellent outlet to restore inner control." The tinniest of smirks appeared on her face, "Something that you need the most Imy."

Imy pouted, causing the silver stud in her lip to jut out at an odd angle, "I can breathe just fine!"

Tessa, who was seated at her left, began to laugh at her comment. Aria, directly across from her, rolled her eyes in instant irritation. Riley, on her right, said or did nothing, but Imy, long accustomed to the secret language of 'Rileyism' automatically knew that she was also annoyed with, but expectant of, her actions.

Jimena pressed her hand against her head and groaned, trailing her palm down her face in frustration, "This is the fourth time this morning, Imy, that you've interrupted my attempts at restoring _some _sort of control and order to this group."

Imy just grinned and rocked back a bit, "Did you ever think that maybe we all just need some time to relax? All of this training is really starting to bring me down."

"Definitely!" Tessa immediately agreed, "Jimena, we've been meeting at your place everyday after school for two hours this week, and we're always doing the same things. Either we're reading and studying mythology, exercising our gifts, or meditating. We need a break!"

"Preferably with some type of fruit beverage and cookies!" Imy cheekily supplied.

"You two are _so_ immature," Aria complained, crossing her arms over her chest, "Jimena wouldn't have us practicing all of the time if there wasn't a reason."

To prove her maturity, Imy stuck out her tongue at the girl. Even though she wouldn't admit it, she was still a little unnerved by Aria's newfound dedication to the whole goddess thing. Although she had heard the story of Aria's train ride from hell, they all had after they had been decommissioned from the hospital, it was still difficult to get used to the after effects and Aria's more optimistic outlook. Not that Imy was complaining by any means, it was just…different.

"Fine, we'll take a short break," Jimena relented, which had both Tessa and Imy breaking out into cheers, and the tinniest of smiles cracked upon Riley's face. "Go grab some damn kool-aid and shut up," She muttered, not at all bitterly, as she pointed to her kitchen area.

When the four girls situated themselves back in their spots, kool-aid in hand, Jimena awkwardly decided to start the conversation, not used to the normalcy of the meeting, "I feel like a girl scout leader," She muttered to herself before asking with false cordiality, "So how was everyone's week?"

Aria, to her right, went first, "I practiced my solo for the orchestra concert, and uh," She seemed incredibly nervous as Jimena appeared to scrutinize her, "Went to the beach with Chuck for a little bit."

Snickers burst from around the circle, everyone knowing of the odd, semi-relationship that had occurred between the reluctant goddess and the Magna Mater's own son. Although the pair fought and bickered constantly, anyone could see the obvious connection between the two. Jimena, while initially shocked, had gotten over it and was used to seeing the curly-haired healer around her apartment a lot more than usual.

It was Riley's turn, and she simply shrugged, "Read some books, vacuumed."

Imy's face fell, "Vacuumed?"

Riley nodded.

Imy shook her head, "You know, and since you are my best friend in the whole world I mean this from the bottom of my sincere heart, that you are incredibly lame right?"

A tiny lift in the corners of her mouth appeared, "You go out of your way to remind me." She responded quietly, but amused.

Imy laughed, "Well, _I _went to the zoo with Art and fed a penguin!" Her face fell, "Then I had to go to this boring art exhibition with my mom all weekend."

Jimena nodded, "Her paintings are being featured, aren't they?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it any less boring." Imy replied, rolling her eyes.

Jimena sighed, "Tessa?" She prompted.

An odd look of guilt passed quickly over her face, and Imy wouldn't have even noticed it if it weren't for Riley tensing up beside her. But as soon as it had arrived it was gone, replaced by a genuine smile, "I went to Planet Bang with some friends, then went shopping with Ezra's pay check," She proclaimed smirking.

Imy clenched her heart, "You have other friends?!"

Tessa laughed, "We can't all be absorbed in this destiny thing."

Jimena cleared her throat, "Alright, well that was fun, now let's return to meditation-"

"Hold on, Jimena, what did you do last week?" Imy wondered, "I barely heard from you at all." The other Daughters nodded their agreement.

Jimena looked at them all, and said as emotionlessly as possible, "I battled with my boss at work, who turned out to be an ancient demon who once lusted after my past life. He was insane, and threatened to kill me and my son, so I sent him back to the hell from which he came after a rather strenuous fight, where he will remain for all of eternity, withering in a slow agonizing torment," She then paused, looking like what she was about to say next was incredibly disturbing and difficult for her to admit, "Then I met up with Gordon for lunch."

Silence reigned as four pairs of eyes blinked slowly.

"So," Imy drawled out carefully, "You met the cop for lunch?" She grinned, "Was it a date?"

Jimena's face held the barest trace of a blush as she quickly changed the subject, "Let's get back to meditation." She proclaimed in a tone that left no room for argument.

As if the Fates were against the poor mentor, which they more than likely were, Carlos chose that exact moment to come trudging into the apartment. His hair was wet and hung together in clumps, his sepia colored eyes appeared sun-strained and cloudy, and when he walked into the living room, it was apparent that he was oblivious to the world.

Mechanically, he plopped onto the couch, wetsuit still on and tracking sand everywhere, and turned on the television as loud as it could possibly go.

Jimena, the mother of the surfer, grit her teeth, "CARLOS!" She cried in irritation.

At the shrill mentioning of his name, Carlos seemed to snap out of whatever daze he had been in. His eyes trailed over the group of five, smiling at Aria and winking, "Why wasn't I invited to the pow-wow?" He questioned innocently.

"Carlos, mommy's working," Tessa chided, rolling her neck and resuming her meditation pose.

Carlos looked towards his mother for confirmation, who nodded tightly, obviously annoyed. He turned towards his favorite Daughter of the Moon, "I take it she wants me to leave?" He asked Aria.

A lopsided grin crept on her face, "I'd assume so."

He sighed dramatically and ran a hand through his hair, "No one loves me," He pouted, standing up, "I'm going to go down and hang out with the local beach bums," He stated, "I'll leave you guys to your cult worship." He turned to Aria, "Call me later?" He asked somewhat desperately.

Aria failed hiding the blush as she nodded.

Carlos walked towards the doorway, making as much noise as possible, and as soon as he shut the door, two heads-one blonde, one brunette- swiveled to stare down Aria.

"Ooo," Imy teased, "Aria and Carlos sitting in a tree-"

Tessa just smirked at the blushing healer, "Seems like you've got that boy completely whipped, what's your secret?"

Aria's eyes widened incredulously and she made a strange choking sound. "N-n-nothing!" She protested, raising her hands.

"Uh huh, spill all the juicy details," Imy pressed, mischief apparent in her eyes.

Riley groaned when she felt her cheeks heat up, knowing that Aria's embarrassment was now strong enough to get passed along to _her._

"Girls," Jimena said sweetly, her eyes portraying a certain danger, "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't gossip about my son when we're supposed to be practicing."

Neither girl seemed very ashamed, both just smirking, but they remained silent after that. Aria sent a look of pure gratitude towards her mentor.

Jimena cleared her throat, "I think it's best if we stop with our meditation for today-"

"Yes!" Imy cheered enthusiastically, pumping a fist in the air.

Jimena grit her teeth and ignored her, "-so we can discuss the latest Follower activity." Her posture tensed slightly from where she sat, "We know that both factions, the Incinti and Infidi, are growing in strength and power, and we need to narrow down our battle strategy to crucial places where the most damage can be dealt, thus lowering the Follower morale. Any suggestions?" She finished, looking almost pointedly at Riley and Imy, the two who had the most connections, if that's what they could be called, to the darker side of the night.

"So far, I've run into Tymmie twice this week," Riley said flatly.

All attention was focused on the maroon haired empath, "What?" Imy demanded of her best friend.

Riley shrugged, "He seems to have an uncanny ability to turn up where I do."

"And you didn't let us know this _why?_" Tessa demanded crossly, "You said all you did was read and vacuum this week!"

Her eyebrows furrowed and she raised her hands in a surrendering manner, "Nothing happened either time I saw him. Both times, I'll have you know, occurred when I was at the library _reading._" She emphasized.

"So what did he want?" Jimena demanded, thinking that Tymmie's actions were highly out of character for the second in command of the Infidi.

She shook her head, "He's been acting strangely, so far he's just been talking to me, but when he does, his words are cryptic." A look of pain crossed Riley's face when she faced the Magna Mater, "And he…lets me know what Trysten's been up to."

Awkward silence filled the room, and Jimena stared at Riley with a mix of sympathy and concern, "Is there a threat?"

A bitter grimace appeared on Riley's normally blank face, "The news hasn't been pleasant."

Jimena fell silent, contemplative, "Anyway to know his next move?"

"No." Came the curt reply.

"I see…" Jimena trailed off, turning then towards Imy, "And on your end?"

Imy cleared her throat, instantly trying to quell the feelings of pity she had for Riley, knowing her best friend hated to feel that emotion the most, "Art's been telling me that one of the local bands on the circuit, Absinthe, is made entirely of Followers, ones that are crossing people over at an alarming rate. Also, Lance suspects the new club that opened downtown, Erebus, is supposed to be serving as an updated version of The Dungeon."

Their mentor nodded thoughtfully, and turned towards Tessa, signaling that it was her turn.

Tessa shrugged slightly, "So far, the only Follower interaction I've had this week at all has come from Planet Bang, and that was just with a pair of Isaac's lower-ranked thugs."

Isaac, the Regulator who had played a rather significant role in Riley's kidnapping, had finally broken away from Yvonne's circle, and started a group of his own, three Initiates assigned under him. So far, Isaac's group seemed hardly a threat, as they acted like just a couple of average gutter punks.

"What happened?" Jimena continued.

The blonde smirked, "Well, I kicked their asses-" At Jimena's reproachful glare, she sighed, "-in a non violent manner, of course. I just projected an illusion over their targets, making them already seemed converted."

"Good, which two were you against?" Jimena asked.

"The brothers, Taavo and Tsiro," Tessa continued, "They aren't anything serious, my low-powered illusion had them confused for hours."

"I see, Aria, anything to contribute?"

The curly haired goddess shook her head, "Sorry, I've been holed up at home studying for my physics finals," She said apologetically, "It's been a rather tame week. No Follower disturbances, and no sign of the Guardians yet."

The group collectively shuddered when their thoughts trailed to the group of seven, now four, Guardians of Hades that had caused such chaos to their lives not so long ago. While it was not certain that they would aim to attack the Daughters of the Moon again after losing three of their members, it was an unanimous decision that they should be prepared for their return.

Jimena slouched in her seat, stretching her arms over her head and looking feline, "Right," She muttered, sounding much older than she was, "So, with the new facts in mind, these will be our group's objectives for this weekend."

All four of the girls' faces fell, "_This _weekend?" Tessa complained.

"Jimena, we hardly ever get a break anymore-" Came Aria.

"The Discards are booked at both The RockOut and Planet Bang on Friday and Saturday!" Imy proclaimed, Riley nodding somberly next to her.

Their leader sighed sadly, "I'm sorry girls, but it's something we have to do. Without us, the fragile balance we've been maintaining could shatter." She cleared her throat and looked at them all, "Does anyone else have any plans for this weekend, aside from shows?"

"Nothing that can't be postponed," Tessa said sourly.

"Just with Carlos," Aria admitted, looking crestfallen.

"Then this is what we'll do. Imy and Riley, you two are in charge of monitoring the situation at Planet Bang when you play there Saturday night. Just a routine check up, if Isaac and his goons are there, ensure that you take care of them. Is that Absinthe band playing at any of your venues?"

"No…but…" Imy trailed off, biting her lip, "I can get Killian to place a call to the stage manager at ErebusHe should have no problem scheduling us for a gig, seeing that clubs like The Dungeon have approached us before. That way we can knock out two birds with one stone."

Killian was the highly energetic stage manager of The RockOut, as well as a close friend to Imy and the other members of The Discards. He had been serving as an impromptu manager for the band ever since they formed two years ago.

Jimena paused, digesting this, "It'd be far too dangerous for just the two of you alone-"

"No problem," Tessa cut in, "I've always wanted to party with a club infested with Followers." She said, grinning.

Aria scoffed, "And I doubt I'll be able to enjoy a nice quiet evening at home, with all the trouble they're likely to get into."

"What about Art and Zahi?" Imy chimed in, "Art's bound to go into overprotective mode when he finds out about the show anyways, and Zahi is quite frankly acting like he needs to get out of the house."

"Chuck will see it as something fun to do," Aria suggested, then muttered, "Crazy bastard."

If Jimena heard this, she ignored it, "I suppose this is a possible option, try and get a gig booked next weekend." She narrowed her eyes, intensely serious, "But know that going into a Follower club is not a walk in the park, goddess or no. You must be prepared, by doing extra training this week." She stared down each individual girl, "We're going to focus more strongly on our weaknesses. Tessa, you should look at prolonging your stamina in concern to your illusions, and making them last longer."

She gave a mock salute.

"Aria, I want you to make your energy more effective, have it heal more with less effort."

Aria nodded, "I can do that."

"Riley, your prime objective is to look at other aspects of your powers. Find outside methods to influence those around you, and hopefully develop different attacks."

The maroon haired girl said nothing, just gave a slight inclination of her head.

"And Imy…" Jimena finished, "You need to exercise primarily in self restraint. Your powers are a gift from Selene to fight evil, not a toy."

Imy tried to suppress the frown that was making its way onto her face, tired of hearing the same old routine from Jimena yet again. She just gave a rather apathetic grunt.

Jimena looked up at the clock that hung on the wall opposite her living room, "I think that's been enough Daughter business for today. You girls are good to go," She stood up and stretched again, "I understand that you're all heading over to Imy's for dinner?"

Imy groaned and pressed a hand against her face, "I'm really sorry about all this," She mumbled, "It's just…Aunt Emily and Uncle Sledge always make me incredibly uncomfortable when they're over…" She trailed off and made a face, "And their spawn is just _horrible._"

"Nothing to be sorry about!" Beamed Tessa as she heaved her rather massive purse over her shoulder, "It's either an awkward dinner at your place, or a TV dinner at mine, since I can't cook and Ezra's working late tonight."

Riley gave her best friend a rather reproachful look, "And their daughter is not a 'spawn'." She said calmly, having been over to the Ormonds' multiple times for dinner and having already met their old friends from high school.

The group of four made their way towards the door, Riley lagging slightly to tell Jimena when she'd be home.

"Bye girls," They heard from Jimena as they reached the hallway of the apartment building, "Have fu-uhn," The way their mentor said the word 'fun' put them all instantly on edge.

Aria stared at Tessa and Imy, "Is there something I should have known before I accepted the invite?" She said, somewhat paranoid as they walked towards the stairway.

Imy huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, "Emily and Sledge-"

"What kind of name is 'Sledge' anyway?" Tessa mused out loud to no one in particular.

"-are both friends of my dad's from high school," Imy rolled her eyes, "And mom's constantly jumpy when they visit, since Emily and dad used to date or something. It's just painful to watch. She goes so far out of her way to prove to them that we're normal, but she overdoes it. You'll see."

"What's up with the spawn thing then?" Aria asked, curious.

"Their daughter, Tatum." Riley said simply, catching up to them as she shrugged on her worn, flannel coat.

"What about her?" Tessa questioned, suspicious.

"Emily and Sledge have two children. Tatum is our age-" Riley tried to explain.

"And a real bitch," Imy grumbled.

Riley just gave the tinniest of sighs to express her annoyance, but Imy was well attuned to Riley's expressions, or lack thereof. "What? You don't think she's the devil incarnate?"

The empath shrugged, "She seems…polite."

"To you! She's phony as hell, and she gets me into trouble **all **of the time!"

Aria smirked as the group exited the building, "No offense, Imy, but you seem to manage that just fine on your own."

"She has a point," Tessa agreed.

Imy's mouth twitched downwards, "Just wait, you'll hate her too."

The four walked towards the bus stop, each plopping down almost simultaneously on the bench. Quiet overcame them as they waited patiently for the city bus to arrive.

"So, is anyone else getting seriously ticked off about this weekend?" Imy blurted out of the blue, her scuffed combat boot-encased feet crossing over each other as she leaned back into a more languid position.

"We don't really have a choice," Aria sighed, "But it sucks. Chuck was going to start teaching me how to surf on Saturday."

Tessa flipped a curtain of golden hair behind her shoulder, "At least you'll still get to see Carlos, I have to cancel my plans with Twiggy all together."

Imy's eyebrows shot up to her forehead, "Wait…what?" She turned to her right to see Riley making a strangled noise torn between a choke and a gasp. Even Aria, who didn't really know the dread-locked grease bucket of a human being, made a face.

Tessa immediately shot up her hands in a defensive position, "_Nothing _like that, he's teaching me to play piano."

"Twiggy _teaches_?" Imy stammered, still not fully absorbing what her friend and fellow goddess was saying.

"Twiggy can play piano?" Aria continued, bewildered.

"Not very well," Riley muttered under her breath, recalling the few writing sessions where Twiggy had tried to contribute to the music arrangements.

The blonde illusionist hunched her shoulders, "He's just teaching me the basics. He offered to do it for free, so I thought why not?"

Imy and Riley shared a knowing look, the two of them the only ones who knew of Twiggy's secret crush on Tessa.

"Sounds like fun," The brunette said, smirking slightly, "But be prepared, Twiggy isn't the kindest of people."

"Or the most patient," Riley contributed.

"Or the cleanest," Added Aria.

Tessa laughed, "You guys, calm down, it's just a piano lesson." Her blue eyes snapped down towards the street when she heard something, "The bus is coming," She said calmly, standing up.

Imy stayed behind for a moment, watching as Tessa, followed by Aria and Riley made their way up the stairs of the bus. A feeling of dread overran her stomach, and she couldn't help but think that something terrible was going to happen tonight. Something horrendous, wicked, gruesome-

"Imy, the driver isn't going to wait for you," said Riley over her shoulder, a miniscule grin on her face, "And stop worrying about this dinner party your mom's throwing."

Imy pouted and sauntered up after her, "Sometimes you don't even realize how annoying your powers can be," She whined jokingly.

A flicker of something grim crawled across Riley's face before she whispered, "Oh, I think I do."

She stared at her for a moment in confusion, but before she had a chance to ask anything, the bus rocketed forward. "Crappy bus, crappy evening, crappy food, crappy Tatum and her crap crappyness," She grumbled as she sat down on the seat across from Aria and waited for doom to meet her.

**OoO**

Boring, I know, but it provides exposition. Ooo, exposition.

**Up Next: **Kyle's a welcoming committee, The Spawn arrives, Catty cooks?, Imy hides, Slurm drinks beer, Aria's polite, Tessa's butt goes up in the air, and Riley's just about had it.


	3. Fine Dining With The Spawn

_Night's Children: Acteus Reus_

**AN: **Had a little down time between my college classes, and thought 'Hey, man, you've got some shit you can upload' and I was all 'Dude, you're totally right!'

I've got the summary for the next side story up on my profile : ) It's in Trysten's point of view.

**Chapter Two: Fine Dining with The Spawn**

When the door to the Ormonds' house swung open, no one expected the site that greeted them.

Catty stood there, looking slightly flustered and anxious…

And she was dressed _normal._

Imy's mother was one of those women who, when approaching their midlives, took a rather bohemian style to them. Her hair, which was cut jaggedly at chin length in a retro punk look, normally jutted out at crazy angles, but was now smoothed back into a respectable bob, a fat headband holding her bangs in place. Her clothes, normally consisting of rather earthy tones, tank tops, flowing skirts, and sandals were replaced by a clean-cut pair of dress slacks and a crimson button down shirt. Even her pair of beloved horn-rimmed eyeglasses had been traded in for contact lenses, something Catty Ormond hardly bothered with.

"Wow, mom, you look, um-" Imy stammered, not knowing what to say.

Her mother sent her daughter a pointed glare, "You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago," She said, her voice not reproachful, just stressed. She turned to the other girls, "Hello Riley, Tessa, and…" She trailed off as she wracked her brain, "Oh! Aria, right?"

Aria smiled and nodded, Tessa following her example.

"Hello Mrs. Ormond," Riley all but whispered.

Catty rolled her eyes, stepping out of the doorway and gesturing for them to come in, "Riley, I've known you since you were in elementary school, I think you can stop with the formalities now." She winked, "They make me feel old."

"Sorry Mrs. Catty Ormond," Riley said in her emotionless tone that made it hard to judge whether she were joking or not.

Catty, however, was accustomed, "Smartass," She muttered in good humor, rolling her eyes. Once the four teens filtered in, she shut the door behind her, "Imy, why don't you go change?" She said sweetly.

Imy grimaced, "Do I have to?"

A stare down was initiated between the two Ormond women, before Catty sighed, all too familiar with this routine, "Fine, but at _least _take off the boots and fatigue coat."

Her daughter grinned, "Done deal," She agreed, heading towards the stairwell up to her room, calling over her shoulder, "Just make yourselves at home."

Catty nodded feverishly, "You can go sit in the living room, if you want. Our guests are going to arrive in a few moments so dinner will be started in a minute."

"Thanks Mrs. Ormond," Said Tessa, taking charge and heading towards the fluffy, white couch in the middle of the Ormonds' rather pristine living room.

"Just call me Catty," Imy's mom said, smiling kindly. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off by the sound of a timer going off, "My potatoes!" She cried, sniffing the air and detecting smoke, "I'll be right back," She excused herself quickly, rushing to the kitchen.

Riley and Aria shared a glance before the latter burst into giggles and the former cracked a rare smile.

"Imy's _so _going to be her mom in twenty years," Aria said, laughing as she followed Tessa's lead, Riley trailing after her.

When they entered the room, they were quick to observe that they were not alone. Sitting in a worn, patchwork recliner that seemed very out of place in the newly updated living room, was Imy's dad, Kyle Ormond. Across his lap was a creased newspaper, and he and Tessa seemed to be engaged in some sort of conversation.

Imy's father was the perfect counterpart to her mother, and he looked perfectly natural in the slightly dressy clothes he wore, unlike his wife. His presence seemed to dictate a sort of proper and orderly persona, his posture perfect and his smile achingly polite.

"Hello Riley," He greeted his daughter's best friend warmly, turning his head slightly, "And I don't believe I know you," He directed towards Aria, as this was her first time at the Ormond residence.

Aria returned his polite smile, "I'm Aria, you might know my mother Tianna?"

Recognition dawned upon Kyle's face, "Ah, how are your parents?"

"Good enough," She said lightly, taking a seat on Tessa's right, Riley plopping down on the left.

"Tessa here was just telling me about her after school job," Kyle trailed off, an amused glint in his eyes when he stared at the other two girls. Aria's face had been drained of all its color and it seemed as if Riley had momentarily stopped breathing as the silence continued.

Tessa snorted suddenly, flipping her hair over her shoulder, "Interning at my brother's work," She clarified, feeling some humor when Aria and Riley let loose collective sighs.

While both Aria and Tessa knew that Imy's father had been involved with the war between the Followers and Selene, they didn't know to what extent and exactly whose side he was on. The way he had aggressively reacted at the hospital a few weeks ago during The Guardian attack was enough to raise suspicion, and know not to bring the subject up around him.

"Oh, I forgot about that," Aria said, turning to the blonde, "When do you start working?"

Tessa groaned, leaning back in her seat, "Next Monday. Four hours a day, five days a week for _below _minimum wage pay."

"How does that work?" Kyle questioned, shifting in his seat.

"I'm an intern. Usually they don't get paid anything," Tessa sighed and then mimicked her brother's deep tenor, "But it will look incredible on a resume and blah blah blah," She said.

"Your brother has a point, besides a little extra cash won't hurt," Imy's father said, still smiling kindly.

Tessa opened her mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

"Noooo!" Came an exaggerated cry from the kitchen, "The food's not done! NOT DONE! THEY **CAN'T **COME IN YET!"

"It will be fine, honey," Kyle said, with the tone of a person who had repeated a phrase far too many times. Setting the newspaper down, he walked towards the entryway of the Ormond residence, Tessa and Aria leaning to peak around the corner of the wall, anxious to catch a glimpse of the aforementioned 'spawn'.

Riley sighed calmly, "I better go upstairs and get Imy, if I know her, she's hiding under her bed."

"Uh huh," Murmured Tessa, leaning over the arm of the couch so far that her bum was in the air.

"Go, go!" Said Aria to Riley, waving her hand as she stared over Tessa's shoulder, her neck stretched out like a giraffe's.

True bafflement crossed Riley's face as she gaped at the sight before her. These girls were supposed to be avatars of a supreme godly power meant to save the world.

Sighing, she ran a hand through her long, maroon hair, before quickly going to the stairs, "The world is so screwed," She mumbled dryly to herself as she sauntered up the steps.

Aria, having heard part of it, turned to Tessa, "What'd she say?"

The blonde shrugged, "Don't know, but shush! The spawn from hell's coming in!"

"Tessa, keep your voice down!" Responded Aria…loudly.

"You keep _your _voice down!"

The two were interrupted by the door being opened, and Imy's father saying kindly, "Long time no see! Come on in and make yourselves at home."

Aria and Tessa's breath was held, their voices died down, their very hearts ceased their beating as the sound of greetings came from Beyond The Doorway, and people entered the Ormond home.

The first person to come in was a man who appeared to be a little older than Kyle. His build was large and rather bulky, with a slight beer belly and a vaguely receding hairline. His face was handsome, with stern features and a strong jaw. There was also this certain way that the man carried himself which screamed authority, a posture not unlike Officer Jacobson's.

"That's got to be Slurm." Whispered Aria.

"Sledge," Corrected Tessa.

"Whatever."

After the man came in and hung up his coat, he was followed by a strikingly pretty woman. Her hair was cornsilk blonde and hung straight passed her thin shoulders. The woman's body was small and waiflike, and her lovely blue eyes glimmered with genuine happiness as she threw her arms around Imy's father for a hug and a quick peck on the cheek.

"Emily," Both girls responded evenly at the same time.

"This leaves The Spawn," Tessa whispered in her best boogey-man voice, to which Aria just elbowed her in the stomach.

Tension hung in the air as they all watched the scene eagerly, waiting for the presence of the person that someone even _Imy _of all people could hate. A muffled greeting from Kyle was heard and responded to, and the girls tensed as they saw someone step inside-

And their jaws both simultaneously dropped.

"Damn," Whispered Tessa.

"Um…he doesn't look like a girl," Aria supplied helpfully.

There, standing between the two supposed parents, was the equivalent of a Greek God. His hair was light blond, almost white, and looked incredibly fluffy and slightly disheveled, reaching a little passed the tops of his ears. He had inherited his father's face, his mother's eyes, and he was dressed in a green flannel shirt that was unbuttoned all the way with a white shirt underneath and a pair of not-so clean jeans with ratty high tops.

"I saw him first," Tessa declared, staking a claim appreciatively.

Even Aria, happily in a relationship with a handsome boy, had to pause and admire the view. "…Definitely not a girl."

"It's nice to see you Kyle!" Beamed Emily cheerfully as she took off her coat and passed it along to her husband.

"You too Em," He responded, a boyish smile on his face, "Where's Tatum?"

Both girls, preoccupied in their ogling, had entirely forgotten about the spawn for a moment, and they shook themselves from their drool fest to refocus on the goal of the evening.

"She's out in the car," Replied Sledge, his voice low but not exactly intimidating, "Gabbing on the phone with one of her friends."

"She'll be in soon," Contributed Emily apologetically.

"Ah, speaking of friends," Kyle turned his head, "Why don't you guys come out and introduce yourselves?"

Shocked at being discovered, both girls fell rather ungracefully to the floor, quickly picking themselves back up before the guests could see. After they had composed themselves sufficiently, they walked into the foyer.

"These are Imy's friends Tessa and Aria," Kyle introduced them individually, then turned to face the company, "This is Emily, Sledge, and their son Dwier."

Tessa flashed Dwier an award-winning smile, and Aria grinned nervously, but the boy seemed thoroughly uninterested, his hands tucked into his pockets and his eyes trained on the edges of his grimy shoes.

"It's nice to meet you," Emily said brightly before turning to Imy's father, "Where's Catty and Imy?"

Tessa and Aria were quick to see how Dwier's head jerked up when he heard Imy's name. They shared a knowing look.

"Catty's in the-" At this, a rather loud crash sound was heard contributed by a startled yelp. Kyle winced, "-kitchen. Imy and Riley are up in her room and _will be coming down shortly because to take any longer is unspeakably rude,_" He yelled the last part, his eyes drifting up to the ceiling meaningfully.

Sledge sent Emily a rather pointed stare, "Why don't you go get Tatum and tell her to come in now."

She sighed, seeming rather hesitant, and instead turned to her son, "Dwier, why don't you go get Tatum?"

The boy groaned but remained silent, swerving on his heel and stomping outside in an irritated fashion.

"Dwier's not very sociable with new people," Sledge offered to the two girls as a large hand scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.

Kyle, sensing the severe awkwardness his high school friends were experiencing, quickly ushered the group away from the entrance, "Go ahead and sit down, I'll go make sure Catty hasn't burned down the kitchen," He said, being the perfect host and guiding them to the living room.

Emily and Sledge sat on the love seat across from Tessa and Aria, while the two groups eyed each other warily and hoped for some sort of deliverance before the dreaded small talk commenced.

The silence grating her nerves, Aria finally questioned, "So, how old are your kids?"

"Dwier just turned fifteen, and Tatum's sixteen," Emily said, kindly, "And how old are you two?"

"We're both fifteen." Tessa answered.

"That's nice," Sledge supplied edgily, not fluent in small talk or girl talk.

"Yes, I suppose it is." Responded Tessa.

"Indeed." He continued.

"Yep." Came Aria.

"Fifteen." Repeated Sledge.

"Right," Contributed Tessa.

"Of course."

"Naturally."

"Yep."

"Fifteen."

Another unbearably uncomfortable pause, as Sledge shifted in his seat and drummed his fingers on the tops of his knees. Finally, he broke as he stood up and sighed.

"I'm going to go ask Kyle for a beer," He muttered to his wife, then turned to the two girls, "Want me to grab you one?"

"We're fifteen."

"Oh, yeah. Right."

Both girls inwardly groaned. This had been more than sufficiently awkward. Imy and Riley had to come save them _now._

OoO

"I can't believe you are actually hiding under your bed," Riley declared in disbelief, her grey eyes wide.

"Make the bad people go away!" Came a muffled whine from underneath the double sized bed, a pair of combat booted feet peeking out from beneath the bottom of the bed's quilt.

"You realize that you're going to be sixteen soon, right?" Her friend drawled.

"Ergh, not important," She protested.

Riley just sighed as she stared at the dismembered pair of feet, wondering how much upper body strength was required to forcefully drag a difficult fifteen year old out from under the bed. It wasn't until Riley noticed a thin ring of light appear around the bed that she dove and latched a hand around Imy's ankle.

"No you don't," She mumbled, "No teleporting out of this."

The white light vanished, followed by a defeated sigh. "I don't want to go."

Riley rolled her eyes, accustomed to the 'tantrums', "It's only for a few hours."

"A few _unbearable _hours." Corrected Imy, who had thankfully retreated from her protective cover, dark hair disheveled and her clothes wrinkled.

"Better to get them over with, then."

Her lower lip stuck out, the hoop glinting in the light, "Do I have to?"

Riley looked at her crossly and folded her arms over her chest, "Don't make me have to make you peppy." She flashed a bit of grey aura around her, just for effect.

Catching the underlying warning, and realizing that Riley wasn't joking, Imy paled and slowly stood up, stretching languidly. "This sucks."

"I know." Riley ran her fingers through the air, indicating the threads of emotion that hung around Imy.

"Oh well, at least they don't live here or anything."

"That's true."

OoO

"So Sledge and I finally decided to move back to Los Angeles," Emily said happily to Catty as she set out the mismatched plates and glasses for tonight's dinner.

"That's great!" Kyle enthused, as he came out of the kitchen with Sledge, who was gripping his can of beer like it was a lifeline.

"We thought the kids would do well to go to high school in a larger city, and Tatum's only in her sophomore year so there's plenty of time for them to adjust." Emily continued, not quite noticing how Catty was shoveling out the mashed potatoes into the serving bowls with a little more vigor than necessary.

"How are the kids taking the move?" Questioned Kyle, who _had _noticed Catty's extra enthusiasm when dishing out the food.

"Dwier doesn't like most people, so he sees it as just another move. But Tatum," Sledge trailed off, taking a long sip of beer, "Well…she's…y'know?"

Catty and Kyle shared a glance. No, they apparently didn't know.

"She's been a little more…moody than usual," Emily attempted to explain, "Tatum isn't used to things changing too fast for her to adapt."

"She's not used to not getting her way," Sledge clarified bluntly. His wife sent him a disapproving glance but he shrugged, "It's true." He muttered, taking another drink.

Catty just tried to smile, "Imy can be a little stubborn too." Scrape, clomp, dig, kill!…the potatoes.

"She gets that from you," Kyle said smartly.

Catty's grip on the serving fork became poised to kill.

"And it's a good thing!" Kyle continued quickly, noticing the murderous air around his wife.

Tessa and Aria watched the exchange from the comfort of the living room, and both felt sympathy well up for the teleporter of the group.

"Imy isn't going to be happy about this," Aria commented warily.

"No, she is not." Tessa agreed.

"Not happy about what?" Came the projected upbeat voice from the staircase as Imy slid down the banister on her butt, landing somewhat gracefully at the bottom. Riley trailed along behind her, leisurely walking down the steps.

"Nothing!" Blurted the two of them.

Riley raised an eyebrow, "You're both lying."

Tessa and Aria glared daggers at the stoic girl with the oh-so-unfortunate ability. She didn't even flinch, "Well, you are."

Imy's mouth tilted into a frown, "What's up?" She tensed and looked around her quickly, "Has the spawn arrived?"

Quickly taking the initiative to change the conversation, Tessa said, "No, but why didn't you say she had a totally hot younger brother?"

Imy's eyes widened, "Dwier?" She turned around to look at Riley for confirmation. She returned a confused shrug.

"Yes Dwier! Don't tell me you don't think he's cute?" Tessa inquired, budging Aria in the ribs for affirmation.

"He is rather attractive," Aria commented blithely, rubbing her now sore side.

"Huh, never noticed." Imy said.

"How could you not?" Tessa demanded.

"Most likely due to the fact that we've known him since we were younger," Riley commented, ever the logical one.

"He's like the antisocial kid brother I never needed," Agreed Imy.

Tessa scoffed, "Pity, since I think he likes you and won't even notice me." Her tone wasn't at all bitter.

"What?" Imy asked, blind-sided, but was interrupted by the sound of the front door creaking open, followed by a knock. "Shit." She whispered low enough so they wouldn't hear her.

Three pairs of eyes immediately zeroed in on Riley, who took a half step away from them self-consciously, "What?"

"Answer it," Imy begged, "Please?"

Riley sent her a skeptical look, "It's your house-"

"Does our decade of friendship mean anything to you? Because I don't think that it does."

Riley's eyes drifted skyward in a 'Why me?' movement before she acquiesced, jamming her hands in her pockets and walking smoothly to the door. Deciding it would do best to handle the process like ripping off a bandaid, quick with some stinging sensations, she immediately pried open the door without preamble.

She was met with Dwier's fist almost crashing against her head. Nimbly, she ducked slightly and avoided it.

"Dwier," She said monotonously.

"Riley," He replied just as flatly.

They gave each other a basic nod which showed they acknowledged the others' existence. Then Riley looked behind the fifteen year old and saw who was with him.

"Hello Tatum," She said.

"Riley! I haven't seen you in forever!" Came the voice that Riley immediately categorized as loud and excessive. The empath tensed for the inevitable bear hug that she was about to be subjected to.

Tatum to the outsider's perspective was a lovely girl. Her strawberry blonde hair held a slight wave to it and was long in length and properly kept without a trace of split ends. Her blue-green eyes were round and innocent looking, and her skin devoid of any blemishes. She looked almost perfect, and that alone placed a few people on edge.

The girl took a step forward, and Riley froze. The Hug Was Coming.

Graceful arms wrapped around her cheerfully and a bit too extreme, as Riley stood stock still and felt a few of her vertebrae pop from the cruel force they were being subjected to.

Riley didn't have a problem with most people, in fact she could count on one hand the number of people she had actually been angry at, but there was one universal rule that she always upheld. No touching. Ever. Her empathetic abilities had made her wary of people by nature, and when in a close physical proximity she began to feel cornered and panicky. Touch tended to send her receiving abilities on overload, and it made her flustered and unsure of what emotions were really hers. Only people that Riley significantly trusted were allowed to interfere with the precious bubble of personal space.

Tatum was not one of these people.

Therefore, Riley may have pried herself away from her arms with a little more force than entirely necessary. Dwier watched the scene passively, a bit of smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, as this was what always happened when they came to the Ormonds and Riley was there.

"Imy's in the living room," Riley blurted, taking a few steps away and quickly retreating.

The sound of a stifled "Traitor!" came from the living room's general area.

"Oh great! I haven't seen her since we last visited," Tatum said cheerily.

Riley blinked at the girl, and slowly stated, "…That would make sense."

Dwier's smirk spread.

Without waiting for a reply, the empathetic goddess walked into the Ormond's living room, a few steps ahead of Tatum. Imy sent her a nasty look.

Riley sighed, "She hugged me." She explained plainly.

Imy's nasty look suddenly became a bit more understanding.

"Imy!" Tatum said as she entered, her tone wasn't as cheerful as before, but still amiable enough to be polite.

"Imy," Dwier echoed, his smirk fading and his gaze lowered somewhat nervously.

"Hi there, Dwier," Imy greeted kindly, her stare falling on the Spawn of Hellfire, "Tatum." Her welcoming sounded like it was being forced through a meat grinder.

The two teenaged girls seemed to be locked in an intense staring competition, Tessa and Aria sent Riley wary looks, which she only replied to with a shrug. Before anyone could comprehend what was going to happen next, the brunette teleporter was taken completely unawares.

"I missed you!" Tatum proclaimed, wrapping her arms around Imy in a 'friendship'-esque hug.

Tessa outright snorted, Aria gaped, Riley remained apathetic, and Dwier's big blue eyes widened slightly.

Imy tried to breathe, "Um, okay then." She said, slowly managing to pry herself away.

Tatum, getting the gist that her hug was no longer appreciated, backed away, "Who're your friends?"

"I'm Tessa, it's nice to meet you Sp- Tatum." Tessa said easily, suppressing the slip of the tongue.

Aria sent the blonde goddess a vaguely reproachful glare, "I'm Aria," She introduced herself courteously.

"You both go to Turney High?" Tatum questioned innocently.

"Not me, I go to La Brea, it's a little more north than Turney," Tessa responded.

"But I go there, why do you ask?" Aria said, trying to break the news to Imy gently- I.e. having Tatum tell her instead of the currently unarmed healer.

She gave a smile that was far too sweet, "No reason."

Imy, picking up on the thinly veiled lie, opened her mouth to ask Tatum another question, but she was cut off as Emily walked into the living room.

"Girls, dinner's ready," She said. Her son gave a grunt, "Sorry, Dwier, you too." Emily noticed both Imy and Riley for the first time, "Imy, Riley long time no see!"

"Nice to see you again Emily," Imy stated, her eyes still scrutinizing Tatum.

Riley nodded.

"Well, let's go, Catty seems a little…stressed," Emily said, turning and going towards the dining room.

Tatum followed by Dwier went immediately after her, but the Daughters seemed to hang back a bit, noticing the waves of hostility Imy was emitting.

"She's up to something," Imy commented shrewdly, "Don't trust her."

Tessa sent her an incredulous look, "What are you talking about? She gave you a hug. That's hardly a spawn's M.O."

Imy turned towards Riley, "Didn't you feel the deceit?"

Riley shook her head, "I hardly felt anything. Which is…unusual, I'll admit. Especially since she _hugged _me." At the word 'hugged' her left eye twitched slightly.

"Ha! There! She's unusual." Imy deducted.

Three girls simply waited for clarity to dawn and for the crickets to chirp in the background.

"Oh, shut up." Imy muttered.

"We better not keep them waiting," Aria said, ever one for proper manners, as she went into the dining room, the others following behind her and a reluctant Imy trudging after them.

As luck would have it, by the time the first three girls sat down, Imy was left only one open seat, the spot between Tatum and Dwier. She sent her three friends a pleading look, but was rewarded with a deliberately confused stare from Aria, a smug grin from Tessa, and flat out ignorance by Riley. Mentally groaning she eased herself in as unnoticeably as possible, cursing her fellow Daughters to an eternity of awkward social situations.

Catty and Kyle came out from the kitchen, each balancing two dishes, Kyle with an additional bowl of vegetables. Catty's ovenmitted hands gently eased down the questionable-looking casserole, followed by some, oddly enough, slightly burnt mashed potatoes. Kyle set down a basket of bread with another plate of perfectly cooked steaks. He set the bowl down in front of Riley.

"There you go Riley, no animal bits of any kind," He said helpfully.

She nodded in gratitude, "Thank you."

"No problem," He said, turning back to serving the food.

Imy squirmed in her seat, feeling completely surrounded in enemy territory. Tatum was actively discussing something with Aria, who was actually seeming to get along great with Imy's _ultimate **enemy**._ Dwier was as incredibly silent as usual, but now that Tessa had commented on it, Imy felt herself more aware of the few sneak glances he would pass at her from beneath his duck fluff hair. She groaned. This was hell. Everyone seemed to be making small talk while eating, even _Riley _was keeping up a conversation with Imy's father. Her eyes darted to the exits, and she sensed the disapproving look on her mother's face from across the table. She seethed inwardly, no escape. This was _total _hell.

"So, Kyle tells me that your little music group's playing a concert this weekend," Emily cut in, seeming to notice Imy's apparent discomfort.

Imy grimaced at her garage band being referred to as 'a little music group', but answered politely, "Two actually, first is at our local club The RockOut, and then on Saturday we're playing at Planet Bang."

Emily gave a thoughtful smile, "I remember going to The RockOut during high school, I bet it hasn't changed much?"

"Probably not," Imy agreed, "Stuff there looks like it hasn't been touched for twenty years."

Emily grinned, "That's it all right."

"What kind of music do you play?" Came the somber voice of Dwier, and everyone momentarily paused at hearing the withdrawn, normally irritated boy speak.

Imy awkwardly cleared her throat, "Well, it mostly sounds like a few genres thrown in a blender. I don't mess much with the technicalities of it all, that's more Riley and Jake's thing."

"Jake?" Asked Emily.

"Jake is our drummer," cut in Riley, "Our style's more oriented towards mid seventies punk with heavy influences of early progressive goth/rock on guitar parts with an undertone of new wave and blues. Occasionally I borrow music arrangements from a folk background, such as the alternative D-A-D-G-A-D tuning. The bass parts are entirely done up by Twiggy, who uses standard root fifths on the guitar chord progressions infused with a heavy distortion and a few deviations based upon the Dorian scale." She noticed that she had lost the entire dinner crowd and returned to absently spearing peas with her fork.

Imy gave a weak chuckle, "Riley's big into music." She clarified.

Sledge, who had been ignoring everything in favor of his beloved can of bliss, stared at Imy and said simply, "So…you're a rock band then?"

"Yep, sure are," Imy said, "Isn't that right, Riley?"

Riley's face acquired an almost sour expression, "Yes…a rock band," To her, it was like saying Picasso was a cartoonist.

"Are you guys really any good?" Tatum commented blithely.

Aria, noticing the slight narrowing of Imy's eyes, decided to contribute then, "I like them."

Tessa picked up on the hostility, "Me too. They're big on the local circuit."

Tatum gave the girls a nonplussed expression and decided she'd had enough of the boring conversation, "So what's there to do around here?"

"Tons," Tessa said flatly, and then ignored her completely in favor for a piece of steak.

Aria groaned, absolutely hating Tessa's rude streak, "Normally we go to clubs, or there's a lot to do at the beach." She paused, "There's really a variety of activities in Los Angeles, it depends on what your interests are."

Tatum shrugged, "I like shopping, any good malls?"

Imy groaned. People pretended not to hear.

"I know a brand new mall that opened a few months ago," Tessa trailed off dangerously, fighting to keep the smirk from crawling up her face. "We'll have to go sometime."

Riley winced slightly and Aria outright gaped at her. Imy felt a surge of respect for her fellow blonde goddess when she realized she was hinting at the Follower hotspot, the place where Riley had been taken by Tymmie. She knew the blonde was just joking, after all, leading innocents, _annoying _innocents but innocents nonetheless, into danger kind of conflicted with the protecting part of their duty.

Tatum looked as if she were about to make a comment, but Emily cut her off.

"I'm sure Tatum would love to go with you after we're done moving in here." She said.

Catty, who was feeling rather disapproving of Imy's behavior, supplied, "Yes, and I'm sure Imy would love to show Tatum around Los Angeles after you're settled. Isn't that right, Imy?"

Imy snorted as she scrapped off the burned parts of her mashed potatoes. As if she'd show Tatum around Los Angeles after they had moved in. Mechanically, she scooped in a spoonful of food, and began rhythmically chewing. Yes, the mashed potatoes required chewing.

Her mind then repeated what it had just thought as her chewing slowed. Something about Tatum…moving…to L.A.?

She immediately spit out her food, "Wait, WHAT?!"

**OoO**

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, I hoped you all liked it!

**Up Next: Imy's never been good with coping, Art's a damn good housewife, Zahi's dirt poor, and a rock show thrown in for fun. **


	4. Imy Doesn't 'Do' Coping

_Night's Children: Acteus Reus_

**AN: **I stole the 'sit next to the boy who's the cutest' idea from the movie _Donnie Darko. _It was just too funny and I'm a creativity-sucking barnacle.

I have NO idea what Sledge's last name is. So I made one up. If anyone does know it, please tell me and I'll correct it.

**Chapter Three: Imy Doesn't 'Do' Coping**

Or

**Art's Male Promiscuity Causes Problems **

Art whistled along with the melody of his headphones absently as he draped a dust rag over the spare pieces of furniture within the apartment that he shared with Zahi. Today was cleaning day, and although it was a stretch of the imagination to accept, Art was actually a neat freak. It came with the package of being a _servus _for almost three decades. He sighed when he came across a pair of Zahi's mud-splattered boots lying on his newly cleaned carpet and made a mental note to talk to the older teen about his messy habits.

The door to the apartment suddenly swung open, and the aforementioned muddy-boot tracker entered their home, groaning tiredly and running a hand through his hair before he began pulling at it in sheer frustration.

Art, immediately realizing that something was off with his roommate and surrogate brother, switched off his beat to hell CD player, "What's up?" He greeted.

Zahi sent him a completely exasperated look, "Apparently, we're broke."

Art's face fell a little, "Broke? As in…"

"As in we have a rent payment to make and only about half the funding to make it." He clarified, shrugging off his coat and dumping it on the ground, treading across the floor with his dirty shoes. Art winced, he had _just _swept the doorway.

"How can we be broke? What about all the money we've saved up?" Art protested, setting his rag down on the table.

"The money's gone," Zahi muttered, "Almost all of our income was from the gigs we booked as Round Table, and Trysten's-" Both of them tensed a bit at the name, still somewhat a taboo around them, "-paycheck from the coffee house is what paid most of our rent."

Art shrugged, "Then we'll get jobs."

Zahi snorted, "How? By giving them a social security number for a teenager that should have died four hundred years ago and one that might not actually exist?" His face contorted, "Actually, I may even qualify as an illegal immigrant, and I doubt you have any sort of birth certificate?"

Art shook his head, "Nothing. I don't honestly even know how old I am."

"We could steal, I still have the abilities to turn into shadow and manipulate minds," The older of the two suggested.

"No stealing," Art shot down immediately.

Zahi sighed, "Then I guess we're going to have to start auditioning for a guitarist and vocalist."

Art winced, "It's too soon to start playing again, especially not without-"

"Then what are we supposed to do, Art? Trysten left us, and it's time we start dealing with that actuality." His dark eyes seemed to pierce right through him, "It's either we begin booking shows again or we don't eat. Your choice." He cleared his throat, "We can't keep canceling gigs, either."

Art's head hung, knowing that Zahi was right, but not wanting to admit it. A small, naïve part of him kept clinging to the hope that Trysten would walk through the apartment door and everything would go back to normal. But he was beginning to discover that reality was not that simple, "Our last pre-booked show is next weekend at the new club Erebus. Could we find suitable replacements by then?"

Zahi grimaced, "Isn't that the club rumored to be the new neutral spot for both sides of the Followers?"

Art nodded reluctantly, "It used to be The Dungeon, but it's obvious that the club is leaning more towards the _Incinti _side. Tensions were rising, and so it was relocated." He paused, and decided to take the more optimistic approach, "But if it's a neutral zone there's a low chance of being attacked."

Zahi rolled his eyes, "A low chance for _Followers _being attacked, the entertainment is still expendable."

The younger boy seemed deep in thought for a moment, before he hesitantly threw out a solution, "I think I have an idea for temporary replacements…"

"Who?" Zahi mumbled absently, cradling his head in his folded arms from where he sat at the table.

"What about Imy and Riley?" Art ventured, "Our fan base is familiar with them, since we used to play at a lot of the same venues, and they can hold their own against Followers if anything goes wrong."

Zahi stared at him, "They have their own band."

"But they can fill in, at least until we're back on our feet." Art reasoned, "It's only one show. Then we can go look for new musicians."

The brunette seemed to weigh this in his mind, "It could work, if only for the one show. Would they be willing to play for free?"

Art smiled, "Imy just sings for the fun of it, and I don't exactly see Riley as the penny-pinching type." He paused, "I'd have to ask them, of course."

Zahi nodded, seeming relatively relieved, "For once, Art, your male promiscuity has finally yielded a benefit."

He colored, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Zahi just sent him a meaningful look with an arched eyebrow, "Why don't you call Imy now, so we have plenty of time to look around if they're already booked?"

Art glanced at the clock that hung in the kitchen, "Actually, I should call her tomorrow. Imy's parents are having some sort of dinner party right now, and I'm sure she's busy being the polite hostess."

OoO

"Imy _sit **down,**_" Kyle demanded of his irate teenage daughter that was currently pointing accusatorily at her mother from across the table.

"What do you mean _she's_ moving here?!" She cried, her voice effectively demonstrating her horror.

Aria's face was buried in her hands, Tessa's was red from repressed laughter, and Riley's features were mimicking Imy's expression of righteous indignation perfectly, her emotions obviously influencing the empath's.

"Imy, what the hell has gotten into you?" Catty asked, bewildered by the outburst.

"Mom, how could you not tell me that **the spawn **was going to be my **next door neighbor?!**"

The aforementioned spawn was smiling a little bit too viciously, Tatum knowing full well the effect of her moving to Los Angeles would have on Imy.

"How could you?!" Contributed Riley, having lost her battle to handle Imy's irate feelings as she too stood up angrily. Realizing her lapse of control, she blushed sheepishly when she felt everyone's eyes on her, "I mean, it's really unfair…to um, Imy." She trailed off, slowly sitting back down, Imy giving her best friend an approving nod.

"Even Riley thinks this is crap!"

Tessa's control fell too, as she immediately began laughing at the outrageous spectacle that was Imy. Her chuckles escalated into loud and rather obnoxious snorting.

Groaning dramatically, Aria buried her face even deeper into her hands. How could she associate with these people?!

"Imy, I don't understand why you're so mad at me…I thought we were friends," Tatum piped up, _really _enjoying this.

"You just shut up!" Imy declared, "You've been plotting against me ever since I broke that _stupid _doll of yours in the first grade!"

Tatum rolled her eyes, "Imy, don't be ridiculous." It was true, "I would hardly be so immature as to carry a grudge around for ten years." A malicious glint was in her eyes.

Imy seemed to be the only one that saw it, "Are you calling me immature?!"

"Well, _I'm _not the one standing on top of a dinner chair," She commented smartly.

"You _are _calling me immature! How dare you!"

Emily looked nervously from her daughter to her husband, "Perhaps we should leave?" She questioned timidly. Sledge gave an enthusiastic nod. Dwier was silent, but a nasty smile was on his face as he listened intently to the conversation.

"QUIET!" Came the incredibly pissed off voice of Imy's father as he slammed his palms down flat against the table. After Kyle noticed that he now had everyone's undivided attention, he glared poisonously at his only child, "Imy, apologize to Tatum. Now."

"No way!"

"**_Imy._**"

"…I'm sorry," Her tone implied that she wasn't, or that her statement should be followed up by 'that you're such a bitch'.

"Apologize to Emily and Sledge," Kyle pressed.

"I'm sorry," This one was more genuine, as she slowly sat back down.

Riley, having Imy's fury somewhat abated, quickly went into action. A thin, gray cloud dispersed and hovered over Kyle, Catty, Tatum, Emily, Sledge, and Dwier's heads, sending out feelings of joviality and pacifism. It worked almost like a switch being flipped on, and the negativity around Imy's parents and the uneasiness around Tatum's family vanished.

"Good save," Mumbled Tessa from beneath her hand, desperately trying to stifle her laughter.

"You are all insane," Aria muttered.

Imy said nothing, but settled for glowering at the floor as she tried to reign in her outrage.

The dinner then continued on as usual, but no one seemed to notice a still rather angry Tatum, who was staring at Riley with an intensely thoughtful expression on her face throughout the rest of the night.

OoO

The next morning for Imy was spent glaring at her ceiling as she lay sprawled across her bed. This was not good, especially since it was a Friday morning and class started in roughly twenty minutes. She was still livid about the previous night, but had managed to restrain herself until Tatum and Co. had left. Then, after saying her strained goodnights to her friends and parents, she stormed up to her bedroom and had proceeded to throw a lamp rather violently across the room.

Deep down, _deep_ down, she realized that she was being as immature as Tatum had accused her of being at dinner. But that didn't quell her ultimate frustration. Tatum was a manipulative, leech of a girl and Imy couldn't stand her. She was so fake, projecting a harmless and naïve persona around other people, but turning into a vicious snake as soon as everyone's backs were turned. She curdled her stomach like sour milk, and it took all of Imy's self control to remain tolerant of her during her family's sparse visits.

But now, _now _she was living roughly three blocks away from the Ormond residence, would be going to Turney High, and going to all the local hangouts Imy went to. She would _always _be there. The thought alone made her want to punch something into submission.

What's worse, is that she knew her poor attitude towards Tatum had upset her dad. Kyle was still very close friends with Emily and Sledge, and to have his only child constantly bickering with their daughter saddened him. Imy exhaled slowly, she didn't have a problem with anyone in that family _except _Tatum. Emily was like a nice soccer mom, Sledge was…Sledge, and Dwier was her best friend Riley with a Y chromosome and shorter temper.

"Imy, are you watching the time?" She heard her dad call from downstairs.

Her mouth twisted into a sneer. "No." She replied flatly, rolling over to look at the digital clock. Her eyes widened when she realized she had been spending the last thirty minutes brooding, "Shit!" She proclaimed- now Tatum was making her late to school too!

Scrambling around her room like a miniature hurricane, she quickly raked her jaggedly cut hair into a spiky bun while simultaneously pulling up a pair of fishnet thigh-high socks. She pulled on a tight, off the shoulder white tee shirt and nimbly buttoned a form-hugging suit vest over it. Darting out the door, she realized she had forgotten bottoms of any kind and quickly pulled on a short black skirt, swearing vehemently under her breath as she pulled on her combat boots and snagged her school bag off the floor before darting downstairs.

"Imy, what time is-" Kyle called from the kitchen.

"Can't talk! Running late!" Imy proclaimed as she opened the door to the house and slammed it shut after her.

Kyle blinked slowly before quietly laughing to himself as he helped himself to another bowl of Fruity Pebbles.

The soles of Imy's boots slapped angrily against the concrete sidewalk as she trotted to school, eyes darting to her wristwatch every few seconds followed by another swear. When had her school bag gotten so ridiculously heavy? After a few blocks of straight sprinting, she slowed and tried to raggedly catch her breath. Her gaze yet again went to her watch and she groaned. She was so late, there was no way that she would make it on time.

Her golden eyes widened, well there was _one _way… but it was risky, her mind being as scattered as it currently was she could suddenly teleport into the middle of a crowd at school. Plus, her mind trailed back to Jimena's chastisement:

"_You need to exercise primarily in self restraint. Your powers are a gift from Selene to fight evil, not a toy."_

Hesitantly she weighed her options, before another look at the time set her will in stone.

"Screw the consequences," She mumbled before a ring of white light formed at her heels and she vanished in an instant.

OoO

Art eyed the empty seat in front of him not for the first time, his green stare locating on it, before darting up to the wall clock. Imy was fifteen minutes late for class, if she was going to even bother showing up at all.

He sighed, trust his girlfriend to be mysteriously absent when he really needed to talk to her. To his side, he noticed that Aria was staring at the same spot, and he began to wonder if something was really wrong.

"Anderson-Moore," Grunted out their Literature teacher, a beastly woman in her early thirties who took great pride in being able to mutter out syllables drenched with the proper about of skepticism.

"Present," Aria said, giving Imy's empty seat another glance before digging out her notebook and text for the class.

"Bernacki?"

"Here."

"Costigan."

"Uh."

"Intelligible as always, Mr. Costigan," Their instructor said dryly, "Dob-"

The teacher was cut off as the door opened rather violently, a panting Imy standing in the entrance, "Sorry, I'm late-"

"Sit down, Ms. Ormond," The teacher spat in aggravation, "One more tardy and you qualify for a week's detention."

Imy winced, "Sorry, I promise I won't-"

"Not impressed. Take your seat."

Pouting, Imy quickly walked towards her seat, smiling happily at Art who gave a bashful grin back and a half wave to Aria who just rolled her eyes in mock exasperation.

The teacher cleared her throat, "Now, let's see, Dob-"

The door was flung open yet again.

"What?!" The teacher bellowed, not taking kindly to interruptions.

Her anger was quickly snuffed out when she saw it was Turney High's principal who had opened the door, "Mrs. Hunnigan, I have a new student here that just registered yesterday."

Imy's face fell slightly, _Crap._

The principal immediately turned on his heel and left after he had dropped the student off. As soon as she entered, Imy felt that old familiar rage manifest itself. Her grip on the pencil began cracking it in half. Alarmed, Art turned to shoot Aria a questioning glance. The curly haired healer just slowly shook her head and gestured to the girl up front.

"Introduce yourself," Mrs. Hunnigan grunted.

A smile that was all teeth, "My name's Tatum McGuire, where should I sit?"

Mrs. Hunnigan rose an eyebrow, "Why don't you sit next to the boy who's the cutest?" She said acidly, obvious annoyed with having to give an actual answer to a question.

Naturally, this caused all the boys in class, save Art who knew better, to start demonstrating their obvious charm, if for nothing else than bragging rights. Tatum seemed to take Hunnigan's spiteful comment earnestly, for she actually started to evaluate every guy in the class. Imy sneered, typical Tatum prolonging her spotlight.

Finally, Tatum seemed to reach a conclusion, as she started to walk down Imy's aisle. Aria, noticing the direction Tatum's eyes were focused, tensed and prepared for another outburst from everyone's favorite teleporter.

Imy didn't seem to clue in, as she just watched Tatum like a hawk eyes a baby rabbit. When she saw her nemesis finally take the empty seat _directly across from her boyfriend, _she felt her anger rise, especially when she noted how Tatum started to make cow eyes at Art, while he squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

The pencil in her grip snapped in half.

This was war.

OoO

"Imy, you're overreacting," Aria said flatly as she forced a forkful of salad into her mouth.

"How is attempting to tackle someone in the hall overreacting?" Imy demanded crossly.

Riley, sitting next to her, sighed, "Repeat what you just said."

"How is attempting to tackle someone in the hall overreacting?!" Imy repeated, too riled up to see the point of Riley's request.

The three girls were sitting outside in the courtyard, the weather perfect for spring. It was currently their lunch hour, and they were sitting on one of the halfway rotted park benches that littered the area in an attempt to make the school look rustic and endearing.

"I don't understand why you let her get under your skin so much, Imy," Aria chastised as she popped the tab for a soda, "Aren't you supposed to be the bubbly one?"

Imy's face contorted in barely suppressed fury, "She thinks my boyfriend's cute! She's moving in on my territory!"

Riley gave a little snort, but hid it innocently underneath her half-eaten soy burger as Imy's wrathful stare zeroed in on her.

Aria exhaled, trying to reason with the girl, "Lots of girls think Art's cute, Imy. It never bothered you before."

"This is different! She's doing it on purpose to undermine me!"

Aria wondered vaguely when she had started to become the mother figure of this unruly bunch of teens, "She didn't know that you're dating Art, Imy. How could she have? It's just a coincidence."

Imy tried to make an argument, but it came out as a series of repressed strangling noises, she turned to Riley for backup, but the girl shrugged- not wanting to get involved. Imy once again swore under her breath for having a complete pacifist as a best friend. Realizing that no one was going to readily agree with her, she tired out and decided to change subjects.

"What time do we need to be at the RockOut tonight?" She asked dejectedly, all the fight gone out of her.

Riley swallowed a bite of her food, "We're on at nine, so probably about seven?"

"So we're all meeting up at Tessa's before? Or after?" Aria asked, still a bit sketchy on the plan.

"After," Imy said, "That way we can start planning for tomorrow at Planet Bang, get the scope of the situation, yadda yadda yadda."

"Sounds good," Aria replied easily.

The two's conversation was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Carlos, who quickly slid in the seat next to Aria and hung an arm around her shoulders, placing a quick peck on the cheek.

"What's up?"

Aria's nose wrinkled, "You smell like seaweed."

He shrugged, "What else is new?"

Imy sighed and absently twirled a strand of her hair, "Have you seen Art? He should have been here by now."

Carlos seemed to be deep in thought, "Actually, yeah. He was walking around with some chick who had red hair- ugh, what was that for?" He demanded of his girlfriend after she had elbowed him roughly in the stomach.

She looked up at him far too innocently, "Hm? What are you talking about?" Her glare said _Shut the hell up or I'll aim lower._

Carlos was sometimes oblivious to his surroundings, but he wasn't stupid, "Treatment like this makes me really reconsider my options, Aria." He pouted, then turned back to address Imy, "Why do you ask-?" His question fell short when he realized that there was now an Imy-sized empty space, "Hey, where'd she go?"

Riley looked up from a book she had started reading, "She stomped off angrily in that general direction," She said absently, jerking a thumb over her shoulder.

Aria huffed angrily, "Now you've done it." She muttered, gathering the rest of her lunch up before quickly going after Imy.

"Not a good idea," Mumbled Riley as Aria left, who was well-acquainted with Imy's hotheadedness.

"You're the empath, you should do something!" Aria demanded, halting in her step.

Riley sighed and shut the cover of her book, sending Aria an arch look, "You want me to calm Imy down? Not even _my _powers can do that right now." She slowly started packing up, however. Aria, noticing that Riley was going to catch up, then immediately went after the teleporter.

"Hey, wait-" Carlos sighed and turned towards his foster sister, "What did I say?"

Riley just shook her head and said dryly, "You'll understand girls when you're older," Before heaving her messenger bag over her shoulder and following Aria.

Carlos blinked heavily for a few moments, before absently muttering, "God I hope so, because they're all freaking nuts."

OoO

"And this is the school's library," Art said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, "It's got, er, books and stuff." He supplied helpfully.

The girl, Taylor or something like that, looked back at him helplessly, "Where's the cafeteria?"

Art's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, "I thought I'd already shown you that-"

"I must have forgotten."

Art coughed into his hand, "Oh, well, it's that way." He said, pointing towards the opposite end of the hall.

"Could you take me there yourself? I have a horrible sense of direction," She coaxed, going as far as to bat her eyelashes.

Art winced slightly, he had been showing the new girl around the school for most of the lunch hour, at his principal's instruction. She needed someone to be her guide, and she chose Art. He didn't understand, he hadn't been overly friendly to her, in fact he was pretty sure he hadn't said two words to her aside from his listing the rooms as they passed by them. Sighing, he then muttered, "Sure."

Taylor seemed to be an airhead, he'd completely believe she couldn't find her way back to the cafeteria.

"Thanks _so _much!" She said, giggling slightly. Art cringed.

"Sure, no problem," He mumbled.

"Tatum," Came a grunt from outside of the library.

The strawberry blonde haired girl swerved on her heel and her eyes narrowed, "What do you want, Dwier?"

The moody boy stood there with his hands jammed in his pockets, impossibly deep voice sounding tinged with annoyance, "You're supposed to show me around."

Tatum rolled her eyes, "Art's showing _me _around."

Art let loose a breath of relief, finally an out! "Actually, I'm more than happy to show-"

"Dwier already knows where everything is," Tatum cut off smoothly.

Dwier blinked, "No, I don't." He said flatly, joining their party with a rather snide look at his sister.

Art just smiled, liking the irritable platinum haired boy more by the second, "Hi, I'm Arthur, but you can just call me Art." He said amiably, holding out a hand.

Dwier grunted, meaning that he processed the information. His eyes narrowed in on the proffered hand as if it was something contaminated.

"…okay, then." He said, quickly withdrawing the hand of friendship, "I'll show you guys where the cafeteria and courtyard is-" Art was yet again cut off.

"Art! Thank God we found you first!" Cried Aria as she sprinted over to him, Riley in tow, "Oh, hi Tatum, Dwier." She added as an afterthought.

"Hello." Tatum said through gritted teeth, **not **happy that there were more people intruding upon her time with the cute boy.

Another grunt from Dwier.

Art immediately tensed, seeing the frantic look in Aria's eyes and the slight concern in Riley's, "What's up?" He asked conspiratorially, "Are there…you know, 'F' words?"

Aria shook her head frantically, "Worse, Imy's-"

"YOU!"

Aria winced, "-not in a good mood."

Imy strode up to them, biting the inside of her cheek and clenching her fists at her sides, she poked Art soundly in the chest, "What the **hell **is your problem?!"

Art looked for help from either of his girlfriend's fellow goddesses. They didn't appear to have any.

"Hi Imy." Dwier said in a softer tone than usual.

Imy smiled brightly at the younger boy, "Hi, Dwier," Before immediately replacing her 'angry face' as she stared at Art, "Well?"

Art's features were the portrait of confusion, "I'm…sorry?"

"Imy, leave him alone," Tatum piped up, now thoroughly aggravated due to her rival's presence.

"You! YOU!" Imy's angered brain couldn't come up with an insult, so she just settled for a glare.

Aria nudged Riley on the side, "Now would be a good time."

Riley surveyed the scene, before resolutely nodding. After a few seconds she made a repulsed face.

"What is it?" Aria whispered.

"There's enough puppy love in this five foot radius to smother all of Los Angeles," She said disgustedly, before refocusing. Slowly, gray tendrils- invisible to the normal eye, wrapped around Imy, not removing her angered emotions, but distributing a sense of level-headedness to allow her to cease her outburst.

Imy inhaled deeply, then took a step back from Art, a lot more sedate than her previously raving attitude, "Art, can I talk to you for a second?" She said flatly.

Art gaped at Imy, then turned and realized that Riley was raising her eyebrows at him. He gave a dry swallow, "Promise not to be violent?"

"…"

"Right, then," Art said carefully, allowing his girlfriend to grab his hand and drag him off.

"Wait, he was supposed to show me the-" Tatum protested, but was cut off as Aria grabbed her forearm with a little more force than necessary.

"Riley and I would be more than happy to show you the rest of the school," She said sweetly, "Isn't that right, Riley?"

Riley shrugged, "Not really."

Tatum threw her arms up in the air, "Never mind," She cried a bit too melodramatically before she stormed away in a manner very similar to Imy's, "Stupid Imy, taking the spotlight…" She said under her breath.

Groaning, Aria turned to Dwier, "Do you need any help?"

Dwier stared at her levelly, "I think I'm going to figure it out on my own."

"Smart," Riley agreed.

OoO

"What were you doing with her?" Imy asked crossly as soon as they were out of hearing range.

Art's eyes widened, "Just showing her around school…wait, _that's _what this is about?"

Imy huffed and crossed her arms, "She happens to be my most hated nemesis since _childhood, _but oh, you ditching me to give her a private tour isn't a big deal. No, not at all."

"Imy, I wasn't ditching you, the principal asked me to do it." He said clearly. "What's the matter with you today? You're not normally like this."

At that statement, plus the genuine concern in her boyfriend's stare, all of Imy's rage seemed to deflate, she sighed bitterly, "It's just…I'm…" She tensed, not used to saying the next statement, "I guess I'm jealous."

Art's eyes widened, "Of me? I'm flattered."

She groaned, "Don't joke."

"Now I'm offended."

Imy couldn't help the small smile that crawled up her face, "It's just that Tatum's always been better at _everything,_ and I guess I'm still pissed off at the fact that she's living here now, going to the same school and everything." She pouted, "Liking the same guys…"

Art gave an understanding smile and pulled Imy into a hug, "Imy, if I got worked up over all the guys that were better than me and crazy about you, I'd go nuts." He paused and looked at her, "'Sides, you could probably kick her ass any day, she seems rather girly and ditzy."

"Aw," Imy cooed appreciatively, "How do you always know what to say to cheer me up?" She mumbled, burying her face in his chest and inhaling deeply.

A faint trace of a blush was on his face, "Habit, I guess."

The bell, signaling that lunch was over, rang and Imy pulled away, "Are you coming to The RockOut tonight?"

"Of course," He said, then mentally kicked himself, "I have something important to ask you…"

"What is it?" She asked, tensing and wondering what kind of question he was going to pose.

"Will you sing for me?"

Imy's eyebrows furrowed, "Right now? Art, that's kind of weird-"

He groaned, "No, not right now. I meant for Round Table."

"Oh," Her confusion flitted away and she mentally berated herself for her stupidity, "I can't quit my band, Art-"

"It's just for one show," He amended hastily, "We need you and Riley to fill in for…to fill in so we can play at our last pre-booked show and pay our rent."

Imy blinked slowly, "Where and when?"

"Next weekend, at Erebus." He said.

"Erebus?" Her ears perked at the familiar name, "The new club for Followers?"

"Yep."

She smiled, "That's perfect, actually. We were supposed to book a show there ourselves so we could infiltrate the place and check out Absinthe-"

Art interrupted, "Absinthe? You know they're going to be trouble."

Imy nodded, "Which is why we'll need all the help we can get." She paused and rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Do you know if they're playing the same night?"

Art shrugged, "I could look into it. Honestly, Zahi and I were more concerned with actually having a full band."

Another bell sounded, signaling that the two were now late for class.

She grinned reassuringly, "I'll ask Riley, I'm sure she won't mind, and I'll talk specifics with you and Zahi tonight?"

The drummer smiled, a huge anxiety taken off his chest now that they actually had a roster, or at least a vocalist. "I'll be there."

Quickly, Imy smirked and pressed her lips against his before rapidly turning around and going to class. Dazedly, Art grinned and sighed.

"Girls are freaking nuts."

**OoO**

Poor Art hehe. I love tormenting the nice guys.

There was going to be a RockOut scene in this chapter, but it's getting a bit too long for that, so it'll be in the next one. Thus, the end of 'normal' scenes and the beginning of Daughter stuff : )

**Up Next: **The RockOut, a severely awkward moment for Aria, and Twiggy gives an eloquent Shakespearean soliloquy in a dead language

…okay, maybe not the last one.

!nym!


	5. Operation: Meat Shield

_Night's Children: Acteus Reus_

**AN: **I've decided that I totally love Ezra. He doesn't get much play, but he was _so _easy to write this chapter! (clutches Ezra plushie) Thank you Ezra, for not being such a temperamental OC!

Another chapter without any Daughter/Follower interaction, well, not a lot anyway. I figure that pretty much ninety percent of my other books were ALL about the Daughter/Bad guy fights (which makes sense, I guess, but you know) and I want to write a bit on the characters just being normal, give a little break. Sorry if it's annoying : ( I tried to keep some action in it. This is the last chapter with no battle/fight scenes I promise.

**Chapter Four: Operation: Meat Shield**

"They're not going to like it," Said Riley as she gripped her large guitar amp and heaved it up, her posture bending backwards slightly under its weight.

"Please, Riley, it's one show," Imy replied airily as she grabbed the opposite side of the amp, helping her best friend tote it up through the backstage doors.

"Twiggy hates Art and Lance though," The maroon haired girl explained, "And Jake is paranoid about the band splitting up already."

Imy rolled her eyes as the two girls climbed up the stairs to the stage, where they placed the amp towards the left side where Riley would be playing, "Twiggy does not hate Art-"

"Yes, yes he does." She said dryly, "Empath, remember?"

The two were currently setting up for their show that would start in roughly half an hour, as they hauled Riley's equipment out of the back of Twiggy's new shitty van. The aforementioned bassist was currently helping the band's drummer, Jake, unload his kit outside.

"Even still, it's just one show-"

Riley frowned, "Where have I heard that before? I believe it was 'just one show' that got us into this whole Daughter mess in the first place."

Imy grinned sheepishly, "You may have a point."

"Twiggy's going to explode when he hears," Riley said as she unzipped her gig bag, trusty black guitar coming out of it along with a few long cables and a distortion pedal.

"He can think reasonably sometimes." Imy then grimaced, "Who am I kidding?"

"I heard something about me thinking," Said the dreadlocked bassist as he entered the stage area. A smoldering cigarette was perched on his lower lip as he carried a snare drum to its marked place.

"Just a rumor," Imy said cheekily.

"Piss off," He murmured as some ash fell onto the pristine white covering of the drum. Absently, he tried to rub it away, only spreading its stain. Shrugging, he walked away from it and faced The Discard's leading lady. "What were you two talking about?" He demanded, exhaling quietly.

Riley opened her mouth to break the news, but Imy cut her off.

"It can wait until after the set," She said with the infamous 'cat that ate the canary' expression.

She could feel Riley's disapproval rather than see it on her blank face as the empath began to carefully tune her guitar, her ear lowered towards the body as fingers fidgeted with the pegs.

Twiggy's mud colored eyes scrutinized Imy for a few moments, then flickered to Riley. After about a minute it appeared he gave up, "Whatever." He huffed, obviously annoyed with Imy's evasiveness.

Jake chose that moment to appear, as he entered the area talking animatedly to Killian, the stage manager at the RockOut. Jake was a year older than Imy, about to turn seventeen, and he had blond hair that had recently been shaved into a Mohawk fashion. A chain hung from a piercing in his nose to the bottom of his ear and his clothes consisted of pants with a multitude of zippers and frayed patches. He was only wearing a sweat-stained tank top, which was ripped at the sides almost all the way to his waist. Tucked into his boxer's visible elastic band was a pair of drumsticks.

Killian looked like the perfect contrast. An older guy in his early thirties, his hair was shaved into a respectable crew cut and his clothes were ironed neatly. However, appearances were deceiving, and Killian had quite the reputation of being a party animal in the Los Angeles area, one with significant ties to other club owners. It was through him that The Discards got most of their shows.

"What do you mean, you want us here tomorrow?" Jake demanded.

Killian sighed, "The band I had booked bailed-"

"Who?" Jake asked angrily.

"Round Table, their guitarist split and they haven't been able to find any replacements yet so all their shows have been canceled." Killian explained, sighing slightly.

Riley shot Imy a meaningful look, and she grimaced, knowing that this was about to blow up entirely in her face.

"Goddamnit," Twiggy said in irritation, gnawing on the end of his cigarette, "Bastards aren't even on circuit and they're still causing us trouble."

"Watch what you're saying," Imy hissed, feeling the need to defend Art and Zahi.

Twiggy rolled his eyes, "Just because you're making out with one of them doesn't make them less bastards. I swear, that band is such an overrated, piece of shit-"

"Twiggy," Riley said, her normally monotone voice edged with danger. Twiggy, realizing that Riley was on the verge of becoming angry, decided to promptly shut up.

But not before he finished his two cent's worth, "I feel sorry for whatever poor replacement they get."

Imy's nostrils were starting to flare, and she opened her mouth for a sharp rebuttal, but was cut off by Jake.

"We can't play here tomorrow, Killian, we've got a show booked at Planet Bang already," The drummer said in exasperation.

Killian almost glared at him, the clipboard in his hand smacking against his open palm, "You're telling me that you'd rather play at that hack club then at RockOut? Your _home _venue? The only club that would let you play when you were starting out? The club where the majority of your fan base is located?" Each question was punctuated by another smack of the clipboard. "Besides, _I _got you that gig. Hell, I get you pretty much _all _of your gigs."

Twiggy sneered, "Planet Bang's people pay more."

Killian's mouth dropped in abject horror, "Money? Is that what this is about? I _slave _over promotion for you-"

Imy rolled her eyes, "Promotion? You put one flyer on the door. One."

"Well…I'll put two next time! I really need you here," Killian was practically begging now.

Jake exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Band vote." He mumbled, "Here or Planet Bang?" His eyes rested on Riley, who had been sitting calmly in silence.

"If we play here, we'll have to cancel at Planet Bang. That won't look nice for our reliability," She said smoothly.

"I'll place a call!" Killian interjected, "I know the people at Planet Bang, really considerate folks."

Imy's eyebrows skyrocketed, "Didn't you just say it was a 'hack' place?"

Killian promptly ignored her.

"But," Riley continued, "I think we should play here tomorrow. We owe Killian and the RockOut." Killian blew a kiss at the shy guitarist having heard her verdict. She cringed slightly.

Jake's stare drifted to the group's bassist.

"I need the money at Planet Bang," Twiggy said bluntly, stubbing out the rest of his cigarette on his bass's hard case.

"There's no smoking allowed inside Planet Bang," Riley said calmly.

Twiggy groaned, "Here then."

The drummer gazed at the deciding vote, "Imy?"

The vocalist sighed, knowing that if they cancelled the Planet Bang gig, they were also violating Jimena's instructions. It didn't feel right, but then again, Riley had voted in favor of playing at RockOut, and Tessa and Aria could still head over to the La Brea club, so not all was lost. "RockOut. But I want at least _three _flyers and maybe even a sign of some sort."

Killian nodded appreciatively, "Thank you! I'll call the stage manager over at Bang right now." He said, scuttling off to the side.

Jake shook his head slowly, "That bastard owes us one big favor," He said sourly as he went towards his set up kit, taking a seat on the stool, "This isn't the first time he's pulled that shit on us."

Twiggy growled, as he hefted the thick bass strap over his shoulder, "I'm sick of covering for lameass bands."

"You're just mad because Zahi's a better bassist than you," Imy said crossly, clearing her throat and beginning some warm up exercises.

Twiggy sent Jake a confused look, "Who the hell is Zahi?"

Jake shrugged.

"Lance's middle name," Riley covered quietly, standing up and strapping her guitar on.

"I hate that guy."

Imy sighed, "We know." She faced her bandmates, "Ready for sound test?"

A grunt, a barely noticeable nod, and a growl of impatience awarded her.

"Okay, one two three-"

OoO

Tessa fought the urge to slam her head against the jeep window as she listened to Ezra drone on and on.

"Now, I know you've been acting really good lately, and not getting into trouble, but the point is to still be careful Tess. There's a lot of shady stuff that goes on in clubs, especially ones like this, and a girl like you could easily be-" Her twenty three year old brother continued to rant to his passenger as he pulled up alongside the RockOut's doorway.

"Ezra, I get it. I'll behave," She said flatly, running a hand through her perfect blonde hair.

"-it's all about responsibilities. Think carefully about the consequences of your actions and don't take any opened drinks. If you leave, make sure you ask one of your friends to escort you and always, _always _carry a nail file or keys between your fingers so if someone tries to mug you, it will be easy to stab him-"

"Ezra!" Tessa said loud enough to catch her neurotic older brother's attention, "For the last time: I. Will. Behave."

He stared at her, "Behaving means no acid, ecstasy, or alcohol right?" He said levelly.

She rose three fingers in the air, in the form of a Girl Scout's hand sign, "Honest. It'll just be crack, crystal meth, and unprotected sex tonight."

Ezra's mouth dropped open and his skin went as white as a ghost's, clearly horrified, "Tess, that's not what I mean when I say-"

Her mental restraint shattered and she actually slammed her head against the window, "Ez, I was _kidding._"

The young man seemed to remember to breathe, and regain enough of his mental capacity to look righteously miffed, "That's not very funny." He winced, "Do your skirts _have _to be that short? And honestly, a halter top is just asking for trouble…"

"How else am I going to attract a potential baby daddy with no future?" She said candidly, her eyes widening, "I see Aria and Carlos, pull over."

Hesitantly, her older brother obliged, his face looking like he had just sucked a lemon, "Do I know these kids' parents?" He asked, lifting a conspiratorial eyebrow at the boy with the strange tattoo peeping over the top of his shirt, most likely a cult member.

"Carlos's mom has been to prison twice and Aria's mother is a heavy supporter of the local PTA," Tessa said, quickly unbuckling her seatbelt- which by the way, Ezra had checked four times to make sure it was securely fastened- and reaching for the door handle.

"No drugs, no sex, no booze." Ezra demanded.

Tessa rolled her eyes, "Aren't you supposed to be a college student? How do you have _any _fun?"

Ezra's mouth twitched into a frown, "I have fun." He defended needlessly.

"Uh huh," Tessa replied, clearly not convinced as she stepped out, "Aria, Chuck! Hold up!" She cried, the two seemed to have heard her as they paused in their steps and waited for her, "Thanks for the ride, Ezra. I'll be home in a few days, a week tops."

His blue eyes widened behind their wire-rimmed spectacles, "You're joking again, right?"

The door slammed shut and Tessa strode off towards her friends.

Ezra absently drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he watched his beloved baby sister go fraternize with some hooligans. "She was kidding," He reassured himself as he exhaled and put the jeep into gear, driving off into the night.

As soon as she had seen the bright yellow jeep speed off she rushed the next few steps over to her friends, "Thank God I saw you, I swear, my brother's got enough anxieties to give us _both _aneurysms."

Aria smiled, familiar with the over protective sibling, "It's kind of sweet, actually."

"In an incredibly, incredibly smothering way." Tessa added.

Aria and Carlos were standing close, not exactly touching, but close enough for a bystander to recognize the signals of a couple. Aria looked breathtaking, her curly hair straightened for once and she was wearing a lace-edged camisole with a flattering white skirt. Her makeup, which was light, was done meticulously and her amulet was displayed proudly. Carlos, to her side, looked as if he had just rolled out of bed. His dark brown hair was mussed, sticking up slightly on one side and he was dressed in his usual swim trunks and tank top. The mark of Eileithyia, a flame with four differently shaped stars overhead, was visible since the collar of the tank was stretched. Tessa smirked, the two were quite possibly the most demented couple she'd ever seen.

"Well, who's ready to party?" Tessa chirped happily stretching her arms over her head languidly. She wasn't immune to all the stares she suddenly received from the opposite sex with that simple action.

"Me!" Carlos proclaimed like a hyperactive kid, grabbing Aria's arm and steering her towards the door. This was the first time that Carlos would be going to the RockOut, as well as the first time that he would see The Discards perform. Needless to say, Aria's patience meter for Carlos's over enthusiasm was slowly beginning to drain.

The three of them strode up to the bouncer, who directly recognized them as someone associated with The Discards, and let them pass inside with no admission cost.

Inside, the RockOut was packed. It was at the very start of its peak, about nineish, and because of that tons of people were filtering in. An electronica disc jockey was just finishing up his rotation, and the lighting scheme was sporadic blue flashes. Pushed towards the back were a few ratty couches and recliners for people needing to rest or to reload on drugs that were supposedly banned from the establishment.

Throngs of people were on the dance floor, their rhythm smooth and pulsating under the strobe lights. Tessa beamed brightly, _this _was her environment. She turned her head towards the couple, "I'm going to go join the masses," She said airily, gesturing towards the crowd of dancers, "Care to accompany me?"

Carlos shook his head, "Not yet, I want to see Riley and Imy play," He said adamantly.

Tessa raised an eyebrow, "Aria?"

She looked at Carlos and then back to the crowd, "You don't mind?"

"Of course I mind. You can't have any fun or talk to anyone without my permission," He said coldly, before breaking out into a grin, "Who knows? Next you'll want to be released from my lair to see your family or something."

Aria rolled her eyes, "I'll be back in a minute."

"No rush," He said easily.

She smirked, "Seems like you're trying to get rid of me."

"Naw, who'd get rid of you?" He said hooking an arm around her waist and kissing her forehead, "I'll need you to eventually buy me nice things."

She giggled, "Only if you're the one making diner and doing the laundry."

"I have no problem doing _your _laundry, especially your-"

Tessa cleared her throat, "Dancing? Not grossing out your third wheel and mentally scarring her for life? Ringing any bells here?"

Aria blushed and mumbled a 'sorry' as she allowed herself to be dragged by Tessa out onto the dance floor.

Carlos admired the view as his girlfriend left, then quickly located an empty barstool near the back with an excellent outlook of the stage. Truthfully, he wanted to be out there dancing, but he also really wanted to see his foster sibling play in front of a crowd. So far, he'd been having a difficult time reconciling the image of the reserved pacifist he lived with and the guitar goddess that she'd been coined by more than a few of the boys at Turney. Besides, he felt a little swirl of pride, _his _new kid sister kicked ass.

The seat next to him suddenly became occupied, and he turned to get a glance at a boy roughly his age with tousled blond hair and brown eyes. Noticing the stare, the boy cleared his throat apologetically, "Sorry, this seat isn't taken is it?"

Carlos eyed him, then looked at Aria and Tessa. Both were dancing rather provocatively, if he thought so himself, "It's cool, my girl's out there." He said, giving a general indication as he waved his arm over the crowd.

The boy smiled, "Thanks, here to see the band?"

Carlos nodded enthusiastically, "My sister's the guitarist," He inwardly beamed. Haha, he had a sister now. One that came with bragging rights.

"I didn't know Riley had a brother," The boy said in confusion.

Carlos shrugged, "We're foster siblings, I just moved here from Hawaii." Seeming to realize himself, he coughed, "Oh, I'm Carlos by the way."

"I'm Ian," The guy said amiably, "So, how's the surfing in Hawaii?"

"Like you wouldn't believe, man. Los Angeles is nice and all, but it just doesn't compare." He paused, "You surf?"

Ian shrugged, "I'm not very good, but I do get out once in awhile…"

Carlos was about to say more, but the lights went out in the club as the last dance song ended. A spotlight drifted towards the stage, and a man in a crisp, white button-down shirt armed with a clipboard sauntered up to the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for The Discards!" He proclaimed, quickly darting to the side as the light flickered off.

The curtains drew apart, and before they had even opened all the way, loud, energizing music pumped out into the club. Several people burst into applause and when the lights flickered on all the way, the four man band was visible.

Riley, Jake and Twiggy were playing with raw intensity as they provided the intro, and Imy smirked out at the crowd, giving a mock half-bow before lifting the microphone up to her face.

"I want to see everybody moving!" She proclaimed before busting out into the lyrics of their first song.

Whenever Imy performed, she owned the stage, the club, and everybody in it. Her movements were graceful and enticing, but not to the point of being too showy or haughty. There was a confidence that exuded from her, the tell-tale mark of a natural performer, and it made it incredibly difficult for people to pry their eyes away. Occasionally, just for kicks and theatrics, she'd take the microphone and swing it around by its cord, twirling it over her head or at her side for a few strums before bringing it back. She poured her everything into singing, and it was apparent that she was met with much success.

That wasn't to say that the other members of the band weren't lacking in showmanship, it was more than obvious that they were each skilled in their respective instrument. Jake managed to toss his drumsticks up in the air and catch them between beats, or to rotate his wrist quickly enough that it looked like a mini helicopter. Twiggy, when he provided backup vocals, had a low, primal voice laced with intensity and his bass playing was hardly shabby. Even the reserved Riley managed to play her guitar behind her back, over her head, or with only one hand. Occasionally, Twiggy and Riley would synchronize, each of them jumping into the air or hopping up on amp stands at the same time.

The fact still remained, though, that Imy was definitely a front woman and her abilities seemed to out shine them. Eyes were drawn immediately to her and they stayed there.

A shrouded figure towards the back of the club, for instance, completely ignored the musicians and focused solely on the vocalist.

More importantly, the mysterious person stared solely at the gleaming silver amulet that hung around the charismatic performer's neck.

OoO

"Thank you, it's been fun!" Imy cheered as the band wrapped up their final song, her voice hoarse and raspy from all the singing and occasional screaming she did.

The applause was thunderous as the lights flickered off and the curtain drew to a close. Panting slightly, and absently dabbing away the sweat that had accumulated on her face, Imy turned to face her band, "Not bad." She said flatly.

Riley smirked, as she set her guitar down and pulled off the now far too warm dark gray sweater she had been wearing due to her own workout, a plain black tank top underneath, "Nope, not bad."

Twiggy snorted, "You went off pitch at the end," He accused, settling for pulling off his shirt and dabbing away at the sweat under his armpits, before pulling the shirt back on. Everyone in the room collectively grimaced.

Imy rolled her eyes, "And you skipped a bridge, but you don't hear me complaining."

Jake's previously sculpted Mohawk now lay plastered against his head, stray strands hanging awkwardly over his forehead. He brushed a hand back and swept it all away from his face, "We're booked tomorrow at eight, so everyone should be here at six thirty." He instructed before sweeping up his own equipment.

Imy gave a mock salute, "Alright sergeant," She mumbled, wrapping the microphone cord around her elbow and palm as she too packed up.

Riley quickly zipped up her guitar, cables, and pedal, but out of the corner of her eye she saw two people leaning languidly against the stage entrance, "Imy, we have company." She said simply, nodding to the two boys in greeting.

Imy looked up from where she was dissembling the microphone stand before smiling,

"Art!" She dropped her task and immediately went over to her boyfriend, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him soundly in greeting. Zahi, to his side, just sighed out something that sounded very similar to "Promiscuity" under his breath. The three were on the opposite side of the stage, and difficult to hear.

Twiggy tensed as he eyed the newcomers with mistrust, "What the hell are they doing back here?"

Jake seemed rather aggravated at the two as well, as they had to cancel their own show to cover for them.

Riley looked at the two Round Table members and at Imy, the three animatedly talking, before reaching a decision and turning to her bandmates, "We're playing with them next weekend."

The reaction was instant.

"WHAT?!" Twiggy bellowed, his face livid.

"You're splitting on us?" Jake demanded, betrayal apparent on his features.

Riley stood up calmly, projecting a pacifying aura around herself, "No. It's only for one show, so they can pay their rent."

"This is such bullshit!" Twiggy spat, but the ire was slowly fading from his words as tranquility settled over him.

"You should have okayed it with us first, Riley." Jake said in a disapproving tone, "Imy, I'd expect something like this from, but you?"

Riley gave an apologetic half-smile, "I understand. But you need to see that we owe Art and Lance a lot, and they're really in a tough situation." She blinked, "They need our help, and it's only for one night."

Jake seemed to accept this explanation, "Fine, but no more secrecy shit. That stuff pisses me off."

Riley nodded, "It won't happen again."

Twiggy seemed to eye the guitarist with suspicion, "Is this because you and their old front man had a thing-?"

Her previously gentle expression hardened, "No. Please don't ask again."

Twiggy appeared to notice that he had overstepped some boundary, as he just gave a snort and dropped the discussion- his version of an apology.

Seeing that the situation was resolved, or as resolved as it would get, Riley sauntered over towards the trio.

"I told them," She said emotionlessly.

Imy's eyes widened and she turned away from Art, "How'd they take it?"

"Not well," She trailed off, "Imy, please don't make me have to use my powers anymore today." Riley slowly shook her head, "It feels…wrong, playing with people's feelings that way."

Imy shrugged, "It's no big deal, Riley. You're only using your empathy ability to calm people down."

The quiet girl sighed, "It still doesn't seem right to repress people's feelings, and I'd just rather not do it again."

Imy noticed that it was really bothering her best friend, and while she didn't understand it fully, she nodded in acceptance anyways, "I promise. I won't dump things on you anymore."

Riley gave a full smile, "Thank you."

Zahi, noticing that the conversation between the two had ended, cleared his throat, "So we'll need you to stop by the apartment at least three times this week to learn the songs we'll be playing."

Art handed Imy a stack of eclectic papers, words written on everything from toilet paper to receipts in a tidy scrawl, "These are his lyrics that he wrote down, if you want to memorize them."

Gingerly, Imy took them, feeling almost like the random bits of paper were somewhat sacrilegious. It didn't settle right with her, taking another vocalist's hard work and using it as her own. She then shook her head, Trysten had left them, this was his choice. Still, she could feel the saddened aura clinging around her best friend.

"Did he tab out the guitar parts?" Riley hesitantly asked.

Zahi shook his head, "No, but I know the basic progressions he used, I figured you could improvise the rest of it."

Riley nodded, "It won't be a problem. I'm free after school anytime."

Imy grinned, "Me too, sometimes during school as well."

"How about tomorrow night then?" Art ventured.

Riley groaned and Imy laughed, "Sorry, have a show." Her mouth twitched into a smile, "_Your _show, actually, you unreliable musicians."

Art winced, "Oh, sorry."

Imy shrugged, "No worries, now enough work talk, let's go out and party!" Without any reluctance, she dragged Art out onto the dance floor.

Riley and Zahi lagged behind, the older of the two crossing his arms and exhaling in irritation.

"It's like babysitting children," He commented.

Riley sighed, "You have no idea."

Zahi sent the empathetic _Lecta _a sidelong glance, "Riley, if you ever…" He trailed off, not knowing how to exactly phrase it. He gave up and tried again, "Art and I had problems accepting it too. Just know you're not alone."

Riley stared at him, confused as Zahi was never one to extend concern to anyone outside of Trysten and Art. When she sensed his sincerity, she gave another half smile, "Thank you, Zahi."

Now obviously uncomfortable, he coughed, "Right, well let's go make sure they don't do something we'll regret."

She was silent, but followed the once Immortal Follower out onto the dance area of the RockOut.

OoO

After the band had finished, the electronica disc jockey returned, and synthesizers, drum machines, and other various noises filled the air.

Tessa laughed, joyously, tossing back a curtain of blonde hair as she danced slowly next to Aria. She noticed out of her peripheral vision a few guys edging closer to the two goddesses, before backing away completely- obviously nervous or intimidated. Aria, seeming to notice the dramatic shift in music, pointed back towards the bar section where Carlos was. Tessa, getting the silent gesture, nodded, and smiled enticingly towards the nearest cute boy as one carefully shifted forward.

Aria edged through the crowd, until she finally came across her boyfriend, who appeared to be talking to someone with his back turned away from her. Shrugging, she went to Carlos's other side and took a seat, "Enjoy the band-?" Her question fell when she realized who Carlos was sitting next to.

Ian's eyes widened when he looked at Aria, then at Carlos, obviously drawing the connection.

Carlos, totally oblivious, smiled, "They were great!" He said, jerking a thumb to the blond boy, "Aria, this is Ian, he's going to come surfing with me next week. Ian, this is my girlfriend, Aria."

"We've met," Aria squeaked, trying to hide herself behind the surfer.

Something bitter seemed to fall across Ian's face, "Actually, I remembered I have plans next weekend, some other time." He said in a clipped tone, nodding curtly as he stood up, "Aria." He grumbled, "Nice meeting you Carlos."

Carlos smiled happily, "It's cool, nice meeting you Ian!" He said jovially, still completely oblivious to the awkward tension in the air. After the boy had left Carlos turned to Aria, "I don't know what his problem is, one minute he's a nice enough guy, the next…" He shook his head and took a sip from a water bottle he must have bought during the show. "Want to dance?"

"Chuck, Ian's…my, uh…well," She rambled, feeling the urge to explain this to him before it came back to bite her in the ass, "We had a thing, I guess."

Carlos looked at her levelly, "A thing?"

"We went on a few dates…" Aria trailed off.

Clarification dawned on Carlos's features, "Ah," He mumbled, "That makes sense then. For a minute I thought I had pissed him off, but it turns out _you _pissed him off."

She groaned and placed a hand across her face, "Thanks Carlos." She blinked, "You don't have a problem with it?"

He beamed, "Nope, no problem! Let's dance."

Sighing, Aria begrudgedly took his hand as he led her out to the floor. A few feet away Ian eyed the couple with something close to resentment or envy on his face, before turning around and exiting the club.

OoO

The night finally seemed to draw to a close, as more and more people began to file out of the club, leaving about a fourth of the population.

Sprawled out on the beat to hell back couches were Imy, Art, Zahi, Riley, and Tessa. Aria and Carlos were off in some dark corner doing things the others would prefer not to think about. Imy was positioned on Art's lap, an arm hanging around his neck as she sighed contently.

"Do we _have _to fight Followers anymore?" She mumbled, the hour reflecting in her worn out voice, "Because I'd rather just take a nap."

Tessa smirked, "Just another year, then we're off the hook." She paused and stared at the waning numbers of the crowd, "Do we need to trek back to my place? There's hardly anyone left."

"There's still people who could overhear," Zahi interjected sagely.

Tessa rolled her eyes, "It's probably safer here than at my apartment, I'm sure Ezra has my room bugged by now."

"There's always Jimena's," Riley suggested calmly.

"That's on the clear other side of town, and I don't think I have enough energy to teleport everyone back home," Imy said, "Plus, it's late and she's probably sleeping by now. Here's fine."

It appeared that Riley, Zahi, and even Art were hesitant about discussing battle plans in the middle of a popular club, but none of them held the will to argue against the stubborn teleporter or the equally stubborn illusionist.

"Fine," Riley muttered, "But keep voices down, and I'll try to influence people to stay away-"

"No need," Interrupted Tessa smartly, "I've been practicing." Slowly, her blue eyes dilated and a golden aura accumulated around the blonde. Eventually, something that looked like a gold bubble surrounded them.

"Interesting," Zahi mumbled, "And this accomplishes?"

"I'm making it seem as if we're all talking about golf," She said smartly.

Imy's face fell, "Golf?"

Tessa's eyes narrowed, "What's wrong with golf?"

Imy groaned, "What about Aria and Chuck?"

"They're on their way over," Said Riley, her face twisting slightly, "Ergh, I hate this power." She mumbled.

Tessa grinned, "Were Aria and Carlos doing bad things?"

"You don't know the half of it."

The two teenagers plopped down on the opposite side of Art and Imy, Aria leaning against Carlos's shoulder, "What's up? Why are you all talking about golf?" Carlos questioned.

Tessa felt a bit of pride bubble inside, "We weren't!" She proclaimed like a little kid, "I'm finally getting my illusions under control."

"About time," Said Aria, then her eyes narrowed, "Why is there a need for illusions at all?"

"Battle plan, of course." Art explained tiredly, the late- or early hour beginning to effect him as well.

"Imy and I are playing here tomorrow night, instead of at Planet Bang," Riley said, deciding it was time to get down to business so they could all go home.

Tessa's eyebrows furrowed into confusion, "Why the change in plans?"

"It's our fault, really," Mumbled Art, "Round Table was booked for tomorrow, The Discards got suckered into filling in."

"So it's just me and Tessa at Planet Bang, I take it?" Aria asked.

"It's nothing serious," Tessa explained, "A few of Isaac's new goons, that's it. Hardly worth all four of us going down there anyway."

"Even still, you should bring someone to serve as a buffer, a person who the Followers aren't familiar with to cause a distraction in case the situation goes poorly," Zahi suggested, and all eyes fell on Carlos.

"So you need me to serve as a punching bag for the bad guys?" He simplified.

"Pretty much," Yawned Imy, stretching her arms out.

"Operation: Meat Shield," Tessa named coyly.

Carlos grimaced, "Can we _please _give it a better name? Otherwise I'm not doing it."

"Naw, Meat Shield's catchy." She replied.

He sighed, "Fine."

"Next weekend, we're playing with Art and Zahi at Erebus," Imy cut in, "Are you going with us?" She asked the Magna Mater's son.

Carlos shrugged, "Dangerous?"

"Totally."

"Okay then, but you need to start taking me somewhere fun." He turned to Aria, "Your friends are _incredibly _pushy."

"We get it from your mom," Aria retorted, smiling sweetly.

"My illusion's powering out," Tessa pouted as the gold around them began to flicker slightly and disperse.

"Then we should go outside to finish-" Started Zahi, before being cut off.

"It's fine, I'm sure that's pretty much all we needed to cover," Imy said. Zahi, Aria, and Riley sent her a rather disapproving look at having a strategy dismissed so casually. She ignored them. As she slowly stood up, Art hooked an arm around her waist and held her close. Sighing happily, she leaned against him, "Any one need…a ride?" A glimpse of mischief in her eyes.

"Imy, that's not the best idea," Riley said as she stood too, "You're tired, which could blow your focus."

"She has a point, you could land anywhere," Aria contributed.

Imy snorted, "It's not a big deal-"

"I'll be happy to drive anyone who needs a ride home," Said Zahi, sending Imy a faintly harsh look. She scowled at him, not one to accept chastisement easily.

"I'll take it," Tessa said, "Definitely don't want to call Ezra."

Carlos fished his mom's keys out of his pockets, "Aria, need a ride?"

The healer sent a careful glance at Imy before nodding, "If it's not out of the way."

Riley would have snickered, had she not been Riley, "Aria, it's about four blocks down."

"We'll just park at home and make you walk the rest of the way," Carlos said cheekily.

Aria gave a mock huff, "Fine, but you have to give me your shoes," She bartered, gesturing to her platform sandals that would not be ideal for the job.

"One shoe."

"Deal."

"No one needs a lift?" Imy whined, and a sudden lurch filtered over her, her posture shifting somewhat, "I'll see you all tomorrow then!" Imy suddenly said brightly, a small circle of white light forming at her feet.

"Imy!" Art said, griping her arm and dissolving her focus, "What are you doing?"

She blinked owlishly, and there appeared to be a clouded look in her eyes, "What do you mean?"

"We're in the middle of a public place, you almost exposed everyone," Zahi commented sharply, his brown eyes flashing yellow for an instance.

Slowly, the teleporter shook her head, the cloudiness of her eyes leaving, "I'm sorry…I don't know what came over me." She mumbled dumbly, "I guess I'm more tired than I thought." She offered weakly.

The anger in Zahi's face faded, "More reason for us to drive you home, then," He said easily, withdrawing keys and heading towards the exit, Tessa following him with a quick wave goodbye.

Riley stared at Imy with an intensely befuddled expression on her face, "Are you feeling alright?" She asked softly.

Imy nodded, "I'm fine, just tired."

"You're sure?" The empath said levelly.

Another nod, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Riley exhaled slowly, shrugging, "I thought I felt…never mind," She gave a rare smile to her best friend, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

She grinned, "Yep, thanks for cleaning up my mess today." She expressed, referring to dealing with Jake and Twiggy.

"What are friends for?" Riley mumbled, hefting up her gig bag, and turning towards a side door, where Aria and Carlos had already walked ahead to, "Better get going."

Imy reached up and ruffled Art's hair, "Me too."

Art's nose crinkled at having his hair suddenly impairing his vision, "Thanks for filling in for…It means a lot."

Riley seemed to acquire yet another melancholy aura, "It's the least I can do for him." She then turned and started walking over towards her foster brother and friend, "I'll see you later then."

"Night Riley."

"Goodnight."

Soon, it was just Imy and Art. The female half sighed, "I worry about her."

Art nodded in understanding, "Me too."

A loud honk was heard from outside the doorway to the RockOut, and Imy smirked, "That would be Tessa, telling us to move our asses."

Art gave a bashful smile, and the two exited the club hand in hand.

**OoO**

Next chapter will be posted a little later than the previous ones, as it's a beefy casserole of a chapter (twice as long, at about thirty pages) and my prewritten stuff is beginning to dwindle so I'm trying to pace myself.

**Up Next: **The DOTM split into two groups to cover more ground, but it will prove a bit more dangerous than any of them would have expected. Toss in together malfunctioning powers, Immortal Followers, shadowy figures, and vandalism. Mix well.

!nym!


	6. On the Fritz

-1_Night's Children: Acteus Reus_

**AN: **Super duper long chapter ahead! If it's too long, review or message me and I'll cut it in half.

EDIT I've split this chapter in half since it got a little lengthy, both parts were uploaded at the same time so enjoy!

**Chapter Five: On the Fritz**

Imy inhaled deeply as she felt the sun shining on her face, the smell of ocean in the air and warm sand underneath her as she sprawled out lazily on the beach. Out in the distance, she could hear the frustrated curses of Aria as she attempted to stand straight on the surfboard, Carlos egging her on to the side where he was instructing her.

To her right, Riley was quietly reading a book for her Literature class, covered head to toe in clothing despite the warm weather and the fact that everyone else was wearing swimsuits.

The girls had taken a few hours before they were set to go hunt Followers to spend at the beach, since Carlos was adamant about teaching Aria how to surf. After okaying the battle plan, skimpy as it was, by Jimena, the Daughters of the Moon realized they had almost a full afternoon of free time and were using it to its fullest advantage. Aria and Carlos were surfing- dismally trying, in Aria's case, Tessa actually went ahead with her scheduled piano lesson with Twiggy- something which received no small amount of snickers from the teleporter, and Imy was soaking up rays. Riley, who had initially refused going with due to a mountain load of homework from her advanced classes, had been forcefully dragged along, textbook in hand.

Jimena had only allowed the girls to bail out of training because she had scheduled a job interview, but they decided any break was still a blessing. Art was going to be joining them at the club, as he and Zahi were spending the afternoon posting flyers to advertise the open spot in their band.

Imy exhaled through her nostrils while bringing down her sunglasses from the top of her head. It seemed lately that she and Art hadn't been able to spend enough time together simply as girlfriend and boyfriend. Sure, they saw each other at school, battled evil together, and she was going to temporarily be singing in their group, but it didn't seem to compensate for the fact that their last _real _date had been when they had first started going out, before Imy had even known about Art's _servus_ past.

Of course, after she had found out about said past, she had broken up with him, but that was besides the point.

After awhile, she just started to get sick of that whole destiny thing. She was sure they all were, but for entirely different reasons. Unlike the other Daughters, Imy had complete control over her power and _enjoyed _using it. Riley acted like hers was a curse, Aria held a similar attitude even after discovering her greater role as a Daughter of Eileithyia, and Tessa's manipulation powers weren't even near manageable. Imy loved the ability to teleport, it'd saved her life and had covered her ass far too many times to count. She didn't think she'd be able to part with it, when the time for her seventeenth birthday approached.

Imy winced, her sixteenth birthday, the halfway marker, was quickly arriving- in April. As it was now March, she only had a few weeks left of being fifteen, before she would be the first one out of the current generation of goddesses to turn sixteen. She would also be the first one to turn seventeen, the first one to make the ultimate decision awaiting them all. It was a heavy burden.

Her mouth suddenly acquired a bitter taste, she only had a year left of being a Daughter of the Moon, and she wasn't sure she was ready to say goodbye to the lifestyle yet. She had met Art, Tessa, Aria, Carlos, and Zahi through being a goddess, had discovered her parents' secret life. If she chose to forget, it would be like having to start completely over.

Her inner musing was violently interrupted as something came hurtling towards the sand near her head. Startled, she had almost teleported out of instinct, but her mind reigned in the reaction and she settled for a startled, "Shit!"

Her heart rate noticeably slowed down when she discovered that it was just a football, and she hesitantly picked it up, her eyes darting towards its source. "Oh no," She mumbled.

Slowly jogging up to her was none other than a shirtless Ian Saratoga, and Imy's stare glanced towards the couple in the water, Aria being readjusted on the surfboard for about the hundredth time by Carlos's careful hands.

"Can you toss it-" His voice fell as his eyes widened in recognition, "Hey Imy." He said, "Small world, huh?"

Imy felt the words stammering on the tip of her pierced tongue, "Uh huh," She muttered intelligibly, "Here," She said carefully throwing the ball at Ian.

He caught it easily, "Hi Riley," He said, just noticing the girl hidden in the shade.

Riley, who had not looked up from her book throughout the entire exchange, merely gave a half wave, a distracted appearance on her face.

"You guys were great last night," Ian complimented, a fellow musician himself.

Imy smiled, but it twitched on one side nervously as she prayed he would leave before seeing the two together, "Thanks, we're playing there again tonight."

He rose an eyebrow, "I thought you were booked at Planet Bang?"

Imy rolled her eyes, "We got stuck filling in for my boyfriend's dead-beat band." She said with humor.

Ian shifted slightly. While the blond had once held a rather large crush on Imy, it had seemed that he had moved on after he began getting closer to Aria. Unfortunately, Aria found Carlos and Imy couldn't help but feel the well of sympathy that emerged for the poor kid. Ian was a really nice guy, and he deserved someone who would care for him.

Which was why Imy was trying desperately to skirt him along, so he wouldn't see the new happy couple, "We'll see you tonight, then?"

Ian shook his head, "I've actually got plans," His face softened as he prepared to go back to his friends a few meters away, "Listen, Imy, what do you know about Carlos?"

Her mouth dropped open, before she remembered common sense, "Carlos is kind of a bone head, but he's genuine."

A sad smile graced his features, "If Aria wants to see another guy, that's fine. I just want to make sure she doesn't end up with some asshole."

"He's not an asshole," Riley said, licking her thumb and flipping a page, her words quiet as she continued to speed-read.

Ian nodded, and cleared his throat awkwardly, "Well, I'll see you at school then." He said goodbye uncomfortably, turning around and heading the way he came.

Imy exhaled and slumped against her towel, "That was close."

"He's lying."

Imy's eyes widened and she rolled over to face her friend, "What?"

"Ian, he's lying," Riley repeated, before clarifying, "About being fine with Aria and Carlos."

Imy sighed, "I can't blame him- besides, it's not really our business anyway."

Another page was turned, "True."

Imy stretched languidly, pulling her arms up over her head, "This will sound weird, but I almost want to be the one to go fight Followers tonight instead of Tessa and Aria."

"Why?"

"I've been feeling really bottled up lately," Imy admitted, "I can't repress the urge to use my power, and training with Jimena just isn't cutting it. Besides, going against a few lackeys of the Atrox would blow off some rage certain people have been causing me."

"This is going to be about Tatum, isn't it?" Muttered Riley as she scribbled something on a page.

"How'd you know?" Imy commented dryly.

"Just the radiating urge to kill that's been hanging around you lately," Riley replied, before stating, "You shouldn't let her affect you this way. It's distorting your rationality."

She huffed, "Well excuse me, Ms. Empathy."

Riley didn't even look up, but arched an eyebrow at the title.

"She just rubs me the wrong way," Imy said, "And I would stop hating her if she would just _quit _trying to get on my bad side."

"How is she going about with that?"

"Moving here-"

"That's hardly her fault."

"-Making me seem immature in front of my parents-"

"You were standing on a chair and yelling at the top of your lungs."

"-hitting on Art-"

"She didn't know you were dating Art. Probably still doesn't." Riley reasoned.

Imy groaned, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips, "I know what you're saying makes sense, but it's just…this gut feeling, I guess. She's up to something."

Riley shrugged, "I haven't gotten any feelings of deceit off of her." She paused, contemplative, "I haven't gotten anything from her, actually."

Imy, interest perked, sat up halfway, "You mentioned that at our house, what do you mean?"

Riley pursed her lips thoughtfully, "Normally, I can pick up emotions around people whether I like it or not. Tatum didn't have any emotions to receive."

"So she's not human," Imy deducted, before saying under her breath, "Called that one."

Riley shook her head, "Not necessarily. Some types of people are harder to read than others. More experienced Followers, for instance-"

"You think she's a Follower?"

"-or good actors." Riley continued, "Repressing emotion is uncommon in normal people, but it isn't impossible. I wouldn't read much into it."

"But there's a possibility," Imy pried.

Riley exhaled, "A small one, but there's been other people I haven't been able to read easily."

"Who?" She queried.

"Officer Jacobson, your mom sometimes…" She tensed, "Trysten. Before he…you know."

Imy fell silent, processing this. Noting that her friend had once again fallen into a more withdrawn phase, she sighed deciding to drop the issue for now, "I suppose she would have had to been a Follower for a long time to be able to guard herself from you."

Riley nodded, "The only one I've come across that can do it is Tymmie, and there's no way Tatum would be near his skill level."

"You have a point, but I still don't trust her." Imy said carefully.

"I wouldn't expect you to," Riley agreed, "You've been fighting since before I met you."

Imy's gaze trailed to the ocean, watching as Aria finally rode her first wave, "Should we tell the others?"

"About what?"

"About Tatum's 'repressed emotions'?"

There was a stretched period of silence, before, "No. Let them enjoy themselves for once."

OoO

Tessa waved goodbye as Twiggy's van pulled away from her apartment building, turning around and entering the stairwell almost immediately. As she climbed the stairs and fidgeted in her purse for a pair of keys, she mused absently that Twiggy wasn't nearly as bad as the other girls made him out to be. He wasn't patient, that was a given by how he would growl whenever she missed a key, and there was a faint reek about him, but he wasn't a horrible person, per se. Just kind of quiet, and he fidgeted a lot while she was there, which she thought was rather odd.

Gingerly, she unlocked the door to the apartment she shared with her older brother, and wasn't surprised to see aforementioned brother there. He was sitting on a couch, facing a television that he had obviously just turned on, as he pretended that he was vegging out as opposed to waiting anxiously for his sister to come home.

"Hi, Ez," She greeted, setting her purse down.

The Lockland's residence wasn't shabby, by any means, but nor was it the most luxurious of places. There were the bare necessities, as money ran a little tight seeing as Ezra was working his way through college and their father's child support money was practically nonexistent. It didn't help that their deceased mother hadn't taken out a life insurance plan, and Ezra was still paying off funeral expenses five years later. Tessa's raids for drug money once upon a time hadn't assisted matters either, and she honestly felt guilty. Especially when she looked at her older brother.

Ezra was older far beyond his years, having had to take care of his kid sister throughout his entire life. Their parents weren't exactly attentive, between their dad's numerous affairs and their mother's drug excursions. Yet Ezra had come out of the entire hell that was their childhood relatively unscathed, save the tedious worrying and overprotective streak. At any rate, the neurotic qualities were a far cry better than Tessa's methods of coping, which had included mimicking her mother's destructive behavior.

Until recently, of course.

"How was your date?" Ezra asked in a false nonchalant tone, as he flipped the channels on the television that he obviously wasn't watching.

"It wasn't a date," Corrected Tessa quickly.

Ezra exhaled, "OhthankGod," He said rapidly, before continuing, "Tess, that guy seemed like a bad influence-"

"He's fine," Tessa cut him off as she turned towards her room, "Smelly, but fine."

Her older brother, giving up on the charade, turned off the television, "So what exactly are you doing tonight?"

Tessa grit her teeth, but tried to mentally remind herself that she deserved the overbearingly inquisitive reactions from her brother due to her past mistakes, "Going out to Planet Bang with Aria and Carlos."

"Is Carlos the cult member?" Ezra demanded.

Tessa blinked, "What?"

"…Never mind." Ezra mumbled under his breath, "For how long?"

"A few hours, I'll probably be home around one or two," She said, shrugging as her hand closed around the door knob for her room, "They're coming over here first though, if that's okay?"

Ezra cleared his throat, "Of course, I like meeting your friends."

Tessa snorted, "That's a lie if I ever heard one."

He shifted awkwardly on his feet, "Well, if they're nice, honor student friends instead of the filthy, detriment to society, stoners you usually bring home, I'd have no problem meeting your school mates-"

Just because she honestly couldn't help herself, she ribbed her brother a little more, "Oh, they don't go to school any more. Aria's really a prostitute and Carlos deals heroin."

"Why do you do this to me? Am I a bad brother? Did I break one of your favorite toys as a child resulting in some sort of bottled up aggression and resentment towards me?" Ezra was a psychology major. "Are you acting out? Is this a call for help?"

The blonde Daughter laughed at his antics, knowing that he was doing this on purpose now. It was a sort of game that they played, getting under each others' skin. Of course, it was an irrevocably insane game, but just a game nonetheless.

"It'll be fine, Ez. I've been clean for a month now," Tessa said easily.

"That's not the point. You're a young woman, Tessa, and with that there are certain dangers and precautions you need to take-"

Tessa went a little green, "_Please _don't tell me you're going to go into a 'birds and the bees' speech."

Ezra straightened his glasses rather professionally, "It's a perfectly natural thing…except for you. You aren't allowed to have sex. Ever."

Tessa, now thoroughly grossed out, went to her room and slammed the door shut. Ezra, nodding to himself for a job well-done, retreated back to the couch, where he turned on the television for real this time.

The illusionist sighed thoughtfully as she flung herself on the single bed in her room, her eyes staring at the cracked ceiling above her. Since she was a few inches longer than the mattress, her now bare feet hung languidly over the edge. Her mind tried to prep itself for the night ahead, and Tessa grimaced when she thought about using her powers.

She hadn't been entirely truthful when she had told Jimena or the other Daughters that she was getting a stronger control over her powers- in fact, it was beginning to go worse for her. There were a few instances where everything operated smoothly, such as last night at The RockOut, but for the most part her capabilities were sporadic and out of control. The only time they worked smoothly, with no resistance, was when…

Another disgruntled sigh escaped her lips. The only time her illusions worked perfectly was when she was under the influence of hallucinogens.

It had been a complete accident, well maybe not complete, when she had discovered the process. It was a little over a month ago, and she had been craving just a small fix at Planet Bang one night, something to ease her through the recovery stage instead of going completely cold turkey. A few hours and two blotting papers of acid later, she was on cloud nine. The amount of LSD she had consumed wasn't enough to make her entirely incoherent, so she was able to register that the weird, trippy gold substance that was hanging in the air was much easier to move than when she was sober.

It disgusted her slightly now, and the guilt was beginning to overpower her. Not only had she promised her fellow Daughters- her friends, that she would get clean of her unfortunate addiction to club drugs, but she had promised herself. And she was failing miserably, caught in a terrible predicament. On the one hand, she could continue to screw up as a Daughter, but on the other she would screw up as a teenager.

Neither option seemed very appealing, especially now that she saw first-hand how her actions effected other people, namely Ezra. She bit the inside of her cheek, her brother had sacrificed a lot to keep her out of foster homes, but the Daughters had to sacrifice more in order to preserve hope.

For now, she would focus more on training and getting things under her control, without the aid of mind-altering substances. But if that failed, and she, Imy, Riley, or Aria were in a life or death situation…

Well, odds were she'd owe Ezra one big, fat apology.

Somewhat resolved, Tessa stood up and started to rifle through the clothes in her closet, trying to find something suitable to wear while kicking immortal Followers' asses.

OoO

Two hours later found one Carlos Killingsworth and one Aria Anderson-Moore sitting _very _uncomfortably across from Tessa's pit bull of a brother. The pair wore clothes a little nicer compared to their attire from the last night, as the crowd at Planet Bang seemed to dress up more for partying and the last thing they wanted to do was draw attention to themselves. Carlos wore an old fatigue shirt that was unbuttoned all the way to reveal a tighter tank top Aria had picked out for him with some ripped jeans. While not all together dressy, it was a load better than his standard swim trunks and ratty white shirt. Aria had dressed chicly, wearing a short, light blue, tunic-styled dress with gold jewelry. Its low cut in the front revealed her moon amulet, which was passively glowing its normal milky color.

Ezra stared at the two teens, unblinking, as he drummed his fingertips along the sides of his crossed arms.

"Does he do drugs?" He demanded, his nerdy outward appearance quickly discarded with the dangerous tone of his voice. Ezra knew Aria well enough, but the glare he kept directing at the surfer bum clearly implied he wasn't taking any chances.

Aria clamped a hand over her boyfriend's mouth, knowing that he was about to blurt out some asinine comment, "Nope." She said quickly, while Carlos's mouth turned downwards into a frown under her palm.

"And how do you know Tessa, exactly?" The interrogation continued, stare pinpointing on Carlos.

"Chill, man, I'm just tagging along," Carlos said easily, having pried himself away from his girl's silencing hand.

"Where's Tessa?" Aria interrupted, hoping the way out would come soon.

"Getting ready," He said, "I want you all to be home by one at the latest." He instructed, and Aria suppressed the chuckle at how fatherly he sounded.

Carlos had a rather worried look on his face, "Why?"

Ezra matched the worried look with one of his own, "Why do you need to know why? In fact, should I know why you need to know why?"

Carlos scratched his head and sent a puzzled look at his girlfriend, "Did that make any sense?"

Aria shook her head slowly, "I don't think so."

"Okay, I'm ready!" Came Tessa, as she stomped out of the bathroom, "Let's go."

While all the Daughters of the Moon were beautiful in their own ways, Tessa was easily the most attractive of the four. Her hair, golden in color, had been groomed meticulously and fell in waves to the middle of her back. Big blue eyes were lightly shadowed with a golden glitter, naturally her signature color, and her outfit- a slinky red dress with a rather provocative slit up the thigh- highlighted her curves perfectly

"Change. Now." Ezra demanded, crossing his arms over his chest again.

Tessa smirked, "Why?"

"Because it's…it's…" Ezra struggled to come up with a word that didn't seem improper, "Improper!" There, that did it.

The blonde paused contemplatively, "Well, I still have that tube top and a micro skirt, but I haven't worn them since last year so they may be a little tight-"

"Put a sweater on," He compromised immediately, shuddering when he thought of his sister's wardrobe.

"Fine," She said, grabbing a cardigan that she had no intention of wearing for the rest of the night, and pulled it on to appease her sibling, "Happy?"

"Are you planning on becoming a nun anytime soon?"

"Not likely."

"Then no, I'm not happy," Ezra muttered.

Tessa exhaled and turned to her friends who seemed to be enjoying the show, "Can we _please _get out of here?"

Carlos was already halfway out the door, Aria going after him. Tessa smiled goodbye to her brother before taking off after them to Jimena's car.

"I want you all home on time!" Ezra yelled after them, "Or so help me, I will call your parents!"


	7. On the Fritz Continued

-1_Night's Children: Acteus Reus _

**AN: **Part two!

**Chapter Five: On the Fritz (cnt.)**

Firm hands gripped her hips gently and pulled them forward slightly as she swayed from side to side, the music a low, repetitive song absolutely meant for close dancing. Her golden eyes shined with mischievousness as they connected with the clear emerald stare and she brought her arms slowly up his chest before locking her hands around the back of his neck and smiling lightly.

His mouth mimicked the motion, and he carefully brought his face down to hers, his faint stubble tickling her. Lips closed warmly over her own, and she pressed back softly. Deciding that he had enough of that, he increased the pressure, the cool stud of her lip piercing digging slightly, and he coaxed his tongue into her mouth.

Her hands around his neck pulled his face lower, and his hands on her waist pressed a little more harshly, his thumb ghosting over the visible hipbone and making her shiver.

"Achem." Came a polite voice.

She playfully nibbled on his lower lip, which merited a smirk from him.

"…Imy," The voice said, a little louder.

He started to suck lightly on her lip piercing, which made her giggle.

"Imy, Art, it's almost time-" The timid voice attempted again.

"Christ Riley, you suck at this." Came an angry growl.

The thumb resting on her hip began to trace up towards the hem of her shirt.

"OY! Knock that shit out and let's get this damn show over with!"

Startled, the dancing couple launched away from each other, both holding beet red blushes on their faces. Standing not even a foot away from them on the dance floor were Riley and Twiggy. Riley had a blush on her own cheeks, most likely a result from their own embarrassment, and Twiggy's upper lip was curled up like a snarling dog's.

"In case you've been too busy playing tonsil hockey," He said crassly, pointing to the stage, "We were supposed to start setting up five minutes ago."

"Sorry for interrupting," Mumbled Riley meekly, avoiding their eye contact almost as much as they were avoiding each other's.

"Uh, um, right," Art trailed off, flushed as he tugged at the collar of his shirt.

Imy cleared her throat, "I'll see you after the set," She said, her embarrassment fading away more quickly than Art's as she smiled with a glint of playfulness in her eyes.

He nodded, shifting uncomfortably under Twiggy's disgusted stare. "Okay."

Imy smirked and gave a wink as she strode off towards the stage, Twiggy stomping irately after her. Riley gave the mortified Art a sheepish grin, "Here, I'll take that for you." She suggested.

His eyebrows furrowed, "Take what-?" But his question dissolved as suddenly all his previous humiliation disappeared, "Thanks."

She nodded, and took off silently after Imy.

Art stood there alone on the dance floor of the club as he watched his girlfriend sneak backstage. A dopey little smile was on his face as he prepared to head back towards the seating area, but he was stopped by a light tapping on his shoulder.

"Hi Art!"

The boy turned his head slightly and his eyes widened in horror.

OoO

"What do you mean I can't come in with you guys?" Carlos demanded as the trio stood outside of Planet Bang's back alleyway in silence. It was, ironically enough, the exact spot where the girls had their first major encounter with the Followers when trying to rescue Tessa.

The said illusionist sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest, "You're our wild card, if there's any Followers they can't see you coming in with us. It's a dead giveaway."

"They wouldn't know about my reflexes," He protested, looking at Aria for some backup.

"We're not saying that you can't go in at all," Aria said, not liking it but seeing the situation logically, "Just hang out here for a few minutes after we enter, then come in after us."

He shook his head, "A lot can happen in just a few minutes, what if there's an ambush-"

"Carlos, calm down. I come here all the time by myself and the most I've dealt with are a few annoyances," Tessa clarified, "We're only here to take out Isaac's henchmen, some low powered Initiates with almost zero experience. It's a walk in the park."

Carlos's sepia colored stare went right through her, "If it's just routine, why am I needed at all?"

Aria gave a sad smile, "Because sometimes things turn out unexpectedly," She admitted, "But it's nothing we wouldn't be able to handle for a few minutes, Chuck. Besides, we'd be out in the open, and the Atrox doesn't want that kind of exposure."

"It's all about subtlety," Tessa agreed, "Something you haven't quite mastered yet."

Frustration was bubbling in his throat as he bitterly muttered, "Fine. I'll give you thirty seconds, then I'm coming in."

"And you've got to promise to keep your cover," Tessa warned, "Which means no interaction with either of us until we single out the threat."

Carlos sent Aria a sidelong glance, "And how long will that take?"

"Who knows?" Tessa said with a distinct air of impatience, "If you see us leave the club out of that door-" Her thumb darted to the side entrance, "That's your cue to step in."

"We should get going," Aria pointed out as more people started lining up in the front, "They're probably here by now."

Tessa nodded and started to walk off, injecting the proper amount of sway in her hips.

Aria hesitated for a few moments, giving Carlos's hand a reassuring squeeze, "It'll be fine."

He exhaled, "You better be careful, because no offense Aria, but you sort of suck at fighting."

Aria awarded that comment with a sharp whack on the head with her purse.

"Damn, Aria, what is it with you and hitting me lately?"

She gave a faux innocent smile, "I thought I sucked at fighting?"

"Doesn't mean I want to be your training dummy!" He protested, rubbing his head, "What do you keep in there, bricks?"

"Training weights, actually, you caught me with my gym purse," She said smartly.

"Who brings a 'gym purse' to a club?" Carlos commented, bewildered.

"It matched the outfit."

"Aria!" Cried Tessa from outside the entrance, her hotheadedness getting the best of her, "That line's not getting any shorter!"

The healer's eyes darted back to her boyfriend for a last time, "I'll see you inside." She mumbled, giving his hand a last squeeze before she took after the blonde illusionist.

Carlos watched her go, the worried frown he had been repressing in her presence finally crawling on his face.

OoO

"What the hell do you mean all of our equipment's trashed?!" Cried Imy at the currently defenseless stage manager. Riley, Twiggy and Jake were standing behind her, their features twisted in horror.

Killian raised his hands in protest, "I swear, Imy, the shit was fine five minutes ago-"

"Then what the hell happened!?" Shouted Twiggy as he shouldered roughly passed him towards the backstage area where all of their instruments and amplifiers were, Jake with him.

"I don't know! I left for five minutes to thank Roy, you know, the DJ? And when I came back the entire area was demolished!" Killian scrambled to explain.

"Son of a bitch!" Hollered Jake from behind the manager, "All my damn drums have been punched straight through! Do you have any idea how much that shit's going to cost to replace?!"

"Some bastard _snapped _the neck off my _bass_!" Twiggy proclaimed with no longer repressed fury. "Clean off! I can't fix this!"

Worriedly, Imy and Riley darted to the scene of the crime, Killian left standing where he was as he still tried to explain. As soon as they rested eyes on the equipment, their jaws dropped.

Everything, from the amplifiers to the cords, had been completely destroyed. Riley rushed over to her gig bag, where sure enough, her guitar lay in pieces. The body was cracked in half, with the face plate completely missing, the strings all severed, and the tuning pegs removed. Cradling the broken guitar like a child, she stared despondently at the floor.

"Who would do this?" She whispered quietly.

"You owe us one big fucking explanation Killian!" Twiggy spat, violently slamming the fractured remnants of his bass against the floor.

Imy felt some sort of inexplicable rage bubble up in her throat when she stared at Riley, Twiggy, and Jake. Music was their life almost as much as it was hers, and for someone to hatefully trash their beloved instruments was something close to unforgivable. She couldn't help but acidly notice that her mike stand had been twisted and the cord cut.

"I don't know how this happened!" The stage manager defended, "The RockOut will pay for your replacement instruments and any other damaged-"

"That's not the goddamn point!" Jake cut in, "Someone was able to sneak back here and completely _annihilate _all our shit and no one even noticed!" For emphasis, he tossed a cymbal, cleanly bent in half, to the floor.

Riley's fingers kept running absently over the guitar, hurt in her eyes, "It's not his fault." She said quietly.

She went ignored, however, as everyone was entirely too livid about their current situation- Imy included.

"What is this? You _beg _us to play tonight, and then you just let some punk from outside trash everything?" The teleporter demanded, kicking over an amp that had been crushed. "There's _no _way you couldn't have heard anything, and it's impossible to cause this much damage in five minutes-"

"I'm telling you Imy, it was perfectly fine before I left- nothing like this has ever happened before!"

"Then you're lying," She said shrewdly, pointing an accusing finger at him, "Exactly how long were you gone, Killian?"

He balked a little at the acidic tone in the band members' voices, "Guys, I've known you for years, you know I wouldn't do anything like this!"

Imy's nostrils flared slightly, so much anger with no one to direct it at. She was about to yell at Killian again, but a cool hand rested on her forearm. She turned to meet Riley's stare directly.

"It's not his fault," She repeated, and her eyes were wide and dilated with power. Imy noticed that Twiggy and Jake were finding their wrath redirected, "Let it go for now, Imy. We'll find out who did it later."

Although it was strained, as Riley had not used her empathy on her, Imy slowly nodded and turned to the RockOut's stage manager, "Just replace our stuff and we'll call it even." She mumbled, turning back to the male members of The Discards, "Is that all right with you two?"

Jake sighed tiredly and tossed his drumsticks into the wreckage, "Whatever," He muttered by way of agreement.

Twiggy was staring at his mutilated bass, "I want a better model," He said through grit teeth.

Killian let loose a sigh of relief, "Done, but it'll take some time-"

Imy's eyes narrowed, "How much time?"

He shrugged, "A week, maybe two."

Riley paled, "I need a guitar for next weekend-"

"I'll see what I can do," Killian said, sympathy in his eyes for his favorite band, "But I can't promise you anything."

The maroon haired girl exhaled slowly and seemed to space out for a moment before nodding, "Thank you."

"We obviously can't play tonight." Jake pointed out, "What are you going to do?"

"I'll talk to Roy, see if he doesn't mind playing for a few more hours due to the bizarre circumstances," Killian suggested, "Otherwise, I suppose I can just put on a top forties album or something. More people will leave, but at least it's music."

"We're going to have to call the cops," Grumbled Twiggy irritably, "I was _not _planning on spending all night giving a damage report to some pigs."

"I'll take care of everything, just leave a list of the equipment that's gone missing or destroyed," Killian said quickly, trying to amend for the vandalism, "Just go get some drinks or something- on the house."

Imy eyed the manager with skepticism, "Did you see anyone before you went to talk to Roy?"

Killian ran a hand over his head, "There's tons of people that come and go between sets, Imy, you know that." He worried his lower lip, "I don't remember seeing anyone unfamiliar, if that's what you're saying."

Imy sent Riley a sidelong glance, "I see."

Twiggy shoveled the remaining bits of his bass into his case, then swore when he tried to pick it up, as the case had been severed in half, "Bastard was thorough, I'll give him that." He spat, turning to Jake, "Do you got a smoke? I really need a smoke."

Jake nodded and pulled a wadded up pack of cigarettes with a lighter out of his pants pockets. Twiggy grabbed them and stuck one in his mouth, tossing the rest back to Jake who absently caught them.

With two words, the bassist in the middle of inhalation summed up the band's general sentiments.

"This sucks."

OoO

"Tessa!" Crooned a voice as soon as the two girls had entered the club, "Nice to see you drop by!"

Tessa's blue eyes landed on the source of the voice and she smiled back happily, "Hi Tommy."

Timothy 'Tommy' Atkins was the bartender at Planet Bang, and a damn good one at that. Although on teen nights, such as this one, he wasn't allowed to serve alcohol he was still permitted to work and serve virgin drinks. Tommy Gun, as the customers normally called him for his rapid-fire drink pouring, was an older guy, about forty five, with a considerable beer belly and long, gray hair pulled back into a ponytail. He had a solitary gold hoop in his left ear and more tattoos than any parlor. The scruffy gray beard contributed to the look of wayward biker.

"Who's your pretty friend?" He asked, winking flirtatiously.

Aria stiffened uncomfortably, but Tessa just laughed and said under her breath, "He's gay."

Seeming a little less tense knowing that she wasn't being hit on by a man old enough to be her father, she smiled charmingly, "I'm Aria."

He grinned, "Can I get either of you two a drink?" He said, lifting up his hands which were currently cleaning out glasses with a dish rag.

Tessa shook her head, "Actually, I was wondering if you could help me with something…" She trailed off.

Tommy Gun rose both his eyebrows, "No peddlers tonight, Tessa-"

"No, not that," She cut off quickly, seeing the disgusted look Aria got on her face at the mere mention of drug dealers, "I'm looking for my date. Have you seen him? He's about six foot two, copper skin, shoulder length black hair, well-muscled…" She trailed off, giving Tommy Gun a description of Tsiro, Isaac's oldest recruit.

He gave an appreciative whistle, "I'd remember someone like that," He said, shrugging, "Haven't seen him, but don't worry, he'll show. Guy would have to be nuts not to show up for a date with you."

Tessa gave a mock sigh, "I hope so, because I would hate to be stood up." She backed away from the counter, "Thanks anyways, Tommy."

"Sure thing Tessa," He called back before facing another set of customers.

"Dead end," Aria mumbled as the two girls began walking off towards the opposite side of the club.

"Not necessarily," Tessa disagreed, "They've been here every night I have…"

"Split up?" Aria offered.

Tessa shook her head, "It's too packed tonight, by the time we found each other it could be too late." She sighed and muttered, "Time for Plan B."

Aria shot her a puzzled look, "Plan B?"

"We attract as much attention to ourselves as possible, in hopes that they seek us out," She said airily, "Shouldn't be a problem for me."

Aria rolled her eyes, "That's got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard," She commented.

Tessa shot her a poisonous glance, "Then _you _come up with a better idea, Holier-Than-Thou Healer!"

"Cover us with an illusion, and we'll look for them discreetly, _not _like a bunch of crazy teenaged girls," She said snidely, rolling her shoulders, "You know my power's useless against Followers, your plan's suicide."

Tessa bit the inside of her cheek, not liking being shown up. Especially by Aria. While they were better friends now, their somewhat rivalry sparked occasionally, "Your plan's just as flawed. I could burn myself out cloaking us, and have nothing left to fight them with."

"We should have thought this out better," Aria huffed, turning and facing the dancing crowd.

"The original plan had _four _Daughters, not just us," Tessa amended, her eyes searching as well.

Aria snorted, "I believe it was _you _who said that we didn't need all of us here."

"We don't," She said quickly, "We can handle Tsiro and Taavo without their help. It's just the finding of them that's tricky…" Her stare widened, "Got one."

"Where?"

Tessa gestured with a nod out towards the throngs of dancers, and Aria followed her gaze. There, fluidly dancing with some girl, was a man who appeared to be in his early twenties, his description matching the one Tessa gave Tommy earlier. His obsidian eyes glowed slightly yellow under the club's lights as he stared at the girl in his arms hungrily.

"Tsiro?"

"Yep, which means…" She continued to peer at the people, "That Taavo's hanging around somewhere…"

Aria gnawed her lip, "I've got an idea."

"What?"

"I'll go after Tsiro, keep him occupied, while you look for Taavo." She suggested.

Tessa immediately shook her head, "_That's _suicide, Aria, what are you going to do? Give him a bandaid?"

Her nose crinkled at the comment, "No, but you know these Followers are like cats," She said straightening her posture, "Always playing with their food."

Tessa's face darkened, "Aria, don't."

"It'll be fine," Aria cut her off smoothly, "You said they were newbies, right?"

Tessa reluctantly nodded.

"Then I can handle it," She continued, "Besides, I'm a Daughter of the Moon, that's got to intimidate him some." She dangled the chain of her amulet between her pinched fingers for emphasis.

Tessa shook her head, "Carlos isn't going to be happy about it."

Aria snorted, "He's hardly the overprotective type."

The blonde stared at the healer incredulously, wondering if she knew the same Carlos Killingsworth she knew.

Aria tossed her curly hair over her shoulder haughtily, "Wish me luck," She said with a false air of pretentiousness, smirking at Tessa before she strode off.

"You can be such a bitch," Tessa said with endearment as she watched her walk away.

Aria moved gracefully around the multitude of people that were surrounding her as she eased her way over to the Follower. The amulet around her neck was emitting violent sparks as she neared the man, a clear signal that he was who she was looking for. She finally made her way over, and saw that the man's head was near the girl's. He was whispering something inaudible that had the girl giggling. More importantly, his eyes were all phosphorous and he was emitting waves of darkness- a sure sign that he was about to cross her over.

Aria's eyes narrowed, noticing that the girl was being easily subjected to the Atrox's influences, and decided to intervene quickly. She settled for a tap on that Tsiro guy's shoulder.

Abruptly, the young man swerved around, his angular, sharply handsome face a few inches above Aria's- he had an obvious height advantage.

Aria was all smiles, "Hi there, want to dance?"

The Follower smirked playfully, and was about to accept before he saw the silver charm whose light was beginning to sting his eyes. At this he froze, "You're a-"

Aria pursed her lips, fully immersing herself in the phony act, "Aw, don't tell me you aren't going to dance with me just because I'm a goddess?" To add to her fake flirting, she trailed a finger up his arm tantalizingly slow, "Because I can party like a devil."

Entranced, and obviously not acting too bright, Tsiro began to reevaluate the healer, eyes resting for a bit longer than necessary on her long, tan legs and Aria silently wished she had worn sweatpants out tonight. "Alright," He grinned, breaking his hold off of the girl he had been dancing with.

Aria gave a sigh of relief when she saw the girl stare at Tsiro with something akin to horror before she scrambled away from the crowd.

Tsiro gave a smile at her that revealed far too many teeth as grabbed the hand that had been resting on his arm and brought it slowly to his face, kissing the palm. Aria grimaced, and prayed to Goddess that Carlos wasn't watching. "Are all of you this forward?" He muttered appraisingly.

A frown crept on Aria's face, but she fought it down by replacing it with a sultry grin, "Just me," She said, as she allowed him to run a hand down her side and move with her in accordance to the beat.

"Then tonight's my lucky night," He purred, as a hand went to the small of her back.

_Gag me, _"You bet."

"Exactly how lucky?" He pressed, the hand on her back dropping a little lower.

_Where the hell is Tessa? _"We'll just have to find out."

She pulled away from him slightly, and he smirked, thinking it was some sort of perverse keep away.

"I didn't catch your name," Tsiro said as they continued dancing.

"I didn't drop it," She responded smoothly, her amber stare scanning faces for the blonde illusionist.

He laughed, "Elusive," He spoke softly, suddenly pressing her up _far _too close against him, "My name's Tsiro," He said huskily, "But I'm sure you already know that."

She gave a nervous giggle, "I'm surprised you don't know who I am." _Where the __**hell **__is Tessa?!_

The hand that wasn't discreetly trying to grab her butt tilted her chin up, angling her face so that they made eye contact, "I'm new to the Follower business, so you'll have to excuse me." He drawled, the iris of his eyes flickering yellow.

_Shit! _"How new?" She responded, trying to keep the conversation going.

"New enough to appreciate a warm welcome," He spoke, lowering his face to hers-

She pressed feebly away from his chest, but it was to no avail-

Until, that is, a punch landed soundly against the side of the Follower's head. A sickening crack was heard, and Tsiro blinked dizzily before slumping to his knees, then falling against the ground. People cleared away immediately from the source, eyeing the newcomer who had just socked the young man.

Carlos stood there, shaking his fist loose as he winced slightly, "He was moving in a little too close on my girl," He explained to the onlookers patiently, giving a little goofy grin that conveyed there was nothing more to see.

People then went back to ignoring the scene, as they lost themselves in the music yet again.

Aria stood there flabbergasted, trying to articulate the correct words, "Carlos-!"

"Look, I know you said not to intervene, but this guy," He nudged the unconscious man at his feet, "Was really pissing me off." He stared at her, an intensity and passion behind his eyes that Aria wasn't used to seeing, "You okay?"

She gave a weak nod, "Thanks." She mumbled abashedly.

The intensity dissolved instantaneously, "No problem," He said wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. After a few seconds, he muttered, "The bastard tried to touch your butt."

She winced, "I'm aware."

"You wouldn't have let him, would you?" Carlos asked.

"No!" She protested quickly.

"Because you only want _me _touching your butt, right?" He insisted.

She groaned and rested her cheek on his shoulder as they started to walk away, leaving the Follower on the dance floor where people accidentally stepped on him a few times.

"If anyone were to touch my butt, it would be you," She assured him, which earned her a bright smile.

The couple walked over towards where Aria had split with Tessa, and she swore when she discovered the blonde illusionist was no longer there.

"Carlos, where the hell is Tessa?!"

OoO

"Nice to see you again Taylor," Art mumbled painfully as an arm latched itself onto his.

"It's Tatum," She said, still smiling. Art thought it was rather psychotic and it frightened him slightly.

"Oh, right," He replied awkwardly, "Um, could you let go of my arm please?"

Tatum pouted slightly, but acquiesced. Art let go a tremendous sigh of relief.

"What brings you to The RockOut?" Art asked pathetically, edging away from the crowd and towards the bar area.

"Oh, I met some girls at school and they wanted me to tag along," She said flippantly, following him a bit too closely. Art shuddered, were all girls this…dedicated?

"Is Dwier here too?" He carried on, for although he wasn't overtly fond of Tatum, he was a bit too polite for his own good sometimes.

"Probably lurking around by the stage," She said rolling her eyes, "He is _so _lame sometimes."

Art finally located a seat, and sat down- making sure that there were no vacant spots to either side of him. Unfortunately, Tatum didn't pick up on this and just stood in front of him. "How's that?"

"He's had this pathetic little crush on Imy since we were about twelve," She said offhandedly, not noticing how Art's eyes widened slightly, "But enough of that, want to dance?"

Art opened his mouth to courteously refuse, but he was cut off.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Boomed a voice from the sound system in the crowd, "Due to unforeseen circumstances, The Discards will not be performing tonight-"

This statement was met with many boos and a few tossed bottles.

"-Instead, our house DJ Roy will be having another set-"

The tension was still present, but not as outrageous, as Roy was popular at the RockOut. Still, a few people left in disappointment at hearing the band had bailed.

"-So give another round of applause for Roy!"

Scattered applause came from the area, as Roy went back on stage with his turntables.

Art stood up immediately, "I'm sorry, I have to go check on the band-"

Tatum's sea green eyes narrowed, "Why?"

"My girlfriend's with them," He said finally, deciding that would stop her pestering of him once and for all, as he took off across the dance floor.

Tatum crossed her arms, and couldn't help but feel a little depressed. The first guy she thought was cute just _had _to have a girlfriend, didn't he? A smirk crawled up her face, that didn't mean she had to take losing lying down, now did it? Tatum _always _got her way, she was damn near insistent on it.

Resolved, she went after Art.

After all, if someone like _Riley _was her competition, this would be a piece of cake.

OoO

After Aria had gone to stall Tsiro and save the girl from being crossed over, Tessa had continued to look for the younger brother, a boy named Taavo. Eventually, she found him, hanging back by the sitting area. Her eyes flickered to Aria, who seemed to have the situation under control with the older Follower for the time being, and decided to follow after the younger brother.

Taavo was a boy who looked to be about twelve or thirteen, with a more heavy set frame and a round face. His hair was cut into a bowl shape, which only helped to make him look younger than he already did, his dark eyes were large, and he always seemed skittish and antsy. Tessa supposed this was part of his act, to lure in people who wanted to help the poor, lost looking kid. She smirked, she could handle him, and she was sure Aria would be fine with Tsiro for the time being.

Confident in her abilities, she started to saunter over towards the boy Follower. However, he seemed to sense her presence when she was a few feet away from him, and startled, he immediately darted to the other side of the club. Hissing in aggravation, she took after him, and wasn't surprised to see that he had darted out of the side exit.

Gritting her teeth, she tailed him, and as soon as she stepped out into the darkened side street she realized what a complete and utter idiot she had been.

"Hello, Tessa, isn't it?" Came an oily voice from opposite the door and Tessa paled. "I'm glad you were foolish enough to follow my subordinate."

"How the hell do I keep ending up in these situations?" Tessa mused out loud bitterly, as she stood outside of Planet Bang and faced down the surprise guest of the evening.

Across from her, sitting almost languidly on a spare shipping crate, was Isaac. The Regulator looked to be about sixteen, maybe seventeen, and had a thin, wiry frame. His black hair was still as greasy as ever and madly disheveled, eerie yellow eyes looking out at her from a gaunt face. Next to him was Taavo, looking smug.

"Daughters of the Moon are _so _predictable," Isaac drawled, "You toss out a little bait, and they come scampering." He cracked his neck from side to side as he slowly stood up, "But, I'll admit it, I was expecting all of you."

Tessa grit her teeth, "What the hell do you want?"

Isaac grinned, "To kill you." He smirked, "Tsiro should probably be finishing up with your Healer friend right now."

Her eyes widened, "Shit!" She started to run back towards the door, but it snapped shut.

"Running away is rude," Isaac hissed, then turned to Taavo, "You did your part, get lost."

Taavo's smug grin faded and he dejectedly ran out of the alleyway.

Tessa beat her fist against the door, but it didn't budge. Sighing, she swerved on her heel and faced the Immortal Regulator, tensing as she drew up her powers from the moon.

"You think you can take me?" He snorted, "That's almost cute."

Tessa could only sneer as her brow furrowed in concentration. Tonight, a stage of the waning moon hung in the sky, making the already difficult process of gathering her energy for an illusion even harder. The strain was killing her head, but she tried to focus and hone a decent illusion.

Isaac laughed, and leaned against the wall in a relaxed pose, "This is so pathetic," He jeered, "You can't even summon up your gift? Hell, I'll be waiting over here when you want to get serious."

"Shut the hell up," Tessa spat, and exhaling, she cast out a shower of gold meant to make it seem as if she had disappeared.

Momentarily, it seemed to work, as Isaac immediately stood up and swore, his eyes searching every crevice for the vanished illusionist.

Tessa smiled, and prepared to dart off towards the front to rescue Aria's sorry ass, when suddenly something horrible happened.

"Not now!" She screamed in frustration, as she felt the familiar pulling sensation that occurred whenever her power was about to give out on her. Noticing that the gold was flickering over Isaac's head, she sprinted away to get a head start, perhaps enough time to get to Aria.

But it was to no avail. The illusion shattered, and before Tessa took five steps in the right direction, Isaac appeared directly in front of her.

"You're almost amusing," He chided sinisterly, "The Daughter with the strongest power, but also the Daughter with the weakest control."

Tessa tried to dart to Isaac's side, but a pasty white hand snagged her wrist.

"Never mind, I think you're more annoying than amusing," He corrected, his saffron eyes drilling straight into hers, "This won't hurt." A sadistic smile, "It's after I steal your hope, that it's going to hurt."

Tessa squirmed, and clamped her eyes shut, trying desperately to break free. Her hand grasped around her pendant and shined it directly in his eyes.

Isaac hissed in pain, but horror overcame her when she realized his grip wasn't relenting, "Now it's _really _going to hurt, you little bitch." He growled.

Suddenly, a crushing feeling overcame Tessa, and she whimpered slightly, sagging to her knees. It was a freezing cold and she slumped down on the ground, her mind whirling and her breathing becoming difficult. She choked, was this what being crossed over felt like? It didn't seem like it. According to Riley, the sensation was supposed to be alluring, tempting, and seductive.

So why did it feel so painful and smothering?

Tessa coughed, and amidst her terror she didn't even feel the clammy hand leaving her wrist, or sense the Follower next to her collapse as well. It was deathly silent in the alleyway for a few moments, and Tessa squeezed her eyes shut, knowing that this was the end.

Yet, almost as quickly as the feeling had arrived, it vanished. Tessa gasped frantically, shivering uncontrollably as she tried to get a handle on what just occurred. Her eyes opened, and she was shocked to see that Isaac was in a similar position to herself, his mouth contorted in a silent scream that gradually faded as the dark presence left.

He stood up rapidly, shooting Tessa a look of horror, before mumbling something unintelligible then turning around and running like hell towards the opposite end of the alley.

Confused, Tessa tried to stand, and staggered only slightly, coughing again into her hand.

She was terrified when the side door swung open, and she braced herself for another attack.

"Tessa! You dumbass!" Came a familiar irritated voice.

Tessa felt relief overcome her when she saw Aria standing in the entrance to the side exit, Carlos flanking her on the side. Aria strode up and poked Tessa in the chest.

"What the hell is your problem? Running off like that without telling anyone?!" She demanded crossly, while Carlos stared at Tessa.

"Are you alright?" He asked with concern.

Tessa slowly blinked, and tried to process the completely bizarre occurrence, "I think we have a serious problem." She said hoarsely, her eyes trained on the shadows surrounding them.

OoO

Imy leaned against the wall in the back area, her ankles crossed over each other and her hands in the pockets of her tight sweater vest, "I want to know who did this." She said for about the fifth time that night.

Riley, who was sitting cross legged on the floor and scrawling carefully on a clipboard, exhaled softly, "We all do, Imy. It's not something to stew over."

Jake and Twiggy had picked up the salvageable parts of their equipment, a wah pedal and a drum stool, and then promptly left the club as soon as possible. Both of them were seething in anger, as Riley had removed her soothing influences over them as soon as Killian was a safe distance away. The female members of The Discards were now alone backstage, as they added their contributions to the damage list.

"But who would trash our stuff and then just leave?" Imy continued crossly. "You don't think it was a different band, do you? Twiggy pissed off that one pop group last week."

Riley shrugged, "If it was just Twiggy's equipment that was destroyed, I'd have a whole list. But someone was mad enough to go through everyone's things."

"Then who?"

"I don't know."

Imy gave a frustrated growl, "How can you be so indifferent to all of this?!"

The empath gave a sad sigh, "It's kind of my job. Someone needs to handle this rationally."

"Are you saying I'm some sort of raving moron?" Imy spat.

Riley's eyes narrowed, "I didn't mean it like that, Imy, and you know it."

The teleporter exhaled slowly, knowing she was just taking out her pent up aggression on her best friend since she was in the area, "I'm sorry, it's just…damn it I'm pissed." She stated bluntly.

"I know, but we'll have to leave it to the police to figure out," Riley said, writing down one last thing on the list before handing it to Imy, "It's just an act of vandalism, Imy, not an attack."

Imy's face lit up, "Do you think it was a Follower?"

"No."

Imy groaned and hung her head, "This is ridiculous." She muttered as she chewed on her lip piercing thoughtfully and scribbled down her gear that had been ruined. "You'd think that we'd get one break- but the _only _normal thing in our lives has to go insane too."

"Everything's replaceable, nothing is even coming out of our pockets," Riley reasoned, standing up slowly and fidgeting with the hems of her sleeves.

"But like Jake said earlier, that's not even the point," Imy finished her last item on the checklist so they could hand it over to Killian, "First, someone disliked everyone enough to do this. Second, no one was paying any damn attention to our stuff." She tucked the clipboard under her arm and went towards the managers' offices, where Killian would be at, "Really inspires a lack of trust, you know?"

Riley shook her head, "Killian was genuine when he said he was only gone for five minutes-"

"Then he was lying," Imy commented shrewdly.

"But my power detects lies easily-"

"Then maybe your power is wrong," Imy snapped as she stomped off the stage.

Riley watched her go and hung her head slightly, knowing that Imy was under a lot of stress and the words she emitted, as spiteful as they sounded, lacked any real conviction underneath them. Still, it was…unusual for her best friend to fly off the handle like that, especially about something as simple as band equipment.

Something wasn't adding up.

"Riley, what's going on?" Came a concerned voice from the side stairwell.

Riley turned around and saw Art reach the stage landing, a flustered look on his face as he absently brushed away a few dark strands of hair from his face.

"Just property damage," She said in her monotonous voice, "Someone snuck in and broke our instruments. It's nothing to worry over."

Art rose an eyebrow, "Follower attack?"

Riley almost smirked, those two were far too similar sometimes, "It would be improbable."

He seemed to notice that the guitarist was alone for the moment, "Where's Imy?"

Riley jerked a thumb towards Killian's office, "She'll be back out in a minute." She paused, "Don't say anything to upset her."

Art gaped, "When do I say things that upset Imy?"

"Never, but just be extra cautious today." Riley hesitated, "She's in a…mood, if you will."

Recognition dawned upon the drummer's face, "Ah. I see." He smiled, "I'll be careful not to piss-"

"Art! I was wondering where you went off to!" Interrupted a voice that Riley instantly recognized.

"She will more than likely upset Imy," Riley commented dryly as she saw Tatum ascend the exact way Art had moments ago.

"Tatum, I'm afraid you can't be back here," Art tried to send her away gently, and swore to himself when he thought the girlfriend comment would be enough of a heads-up. Apparently, she was either pigheaded or thickheaded.

"Don't be silly, I just wanted to talk to my friend Riley," Tatum said far too sweetly.

A miniscule frown of confusion made its way on the girl's blank features, "What would we have to talk about?" She murmured, obviously not well-educated in social etiquette.

"Oh, you know, stuff." She said, then added in a conspiratorial whisper, "Girl talk, you know?"

Riley balked. She was quite possibly the least girly girl she knew. "I don't think-"

Tatum cut her off as she pulled on the guitarist's arm and dragged her away, "You don't mind if I steal her for a few minutes, do you Art?"

Art blinked owlishly, "Um, I guess not?"

Riley's placid eyes actually held a bit of spite in them as she glared at Art over her shoulder while being pulled off.

Before they were entirely out of hearing range, Tatum rounded on the poor, shy girl like a rabid hyena.

"So, how long have you and Art known each other?" She asked, her tone polite but her posture and stance menacing.

Riley stared at her incredulously, "Almost a year now."

"And are you two close?"

She blinked, "Close enough, I suppose." She cocked her head to the side in evaluation, "What did you need to talk to me about?"

"Art. I think he's totally wrong for you Riley," Tatum said sweetly, like a concerned friend ought to.

The guitarist froze, "Um, me too?" She ventured shakily.

Tatum exhaled in utmost relief, "I'm so glad you agree with me, Riley! Because I was afraid I would have to intervene- on your best interest of course- to save you from potential heartbreak."

She tensed, "Tatum, I think that you're mistaken-"

"Now, none of that Riley. I've known you since you were eight, I think I know what you _really _need." Tatum began steering Riley back to where they were before, "I'm so glad we had this talk!"

"What?"

OoO

Imy dropped the clipboard rather gracelessly on Killian's desk, "Here." She said bluntly, then spun on her heel to walk back out.

"Imy, hold up!" Killian said, standing out of his chair quickly to follow after her, "I'm really sorry about all of this-"

Imy exhaled and counted to ten, "Killian, tonight's not a good night." Her words were grated, and Killian could see the agitation clinging to the charismatic performer, "So, for now, just tell me you'll call the police so I can go home."

Killian guarded her warily for a moment, before saying, "Sure Imy."

She nodded, "Thanks Killian."

With that she left the office.

Needless to say, she was more than surprised to see that her maroon haired best friend had been replaced by her scruffy boyfriend when she returned. "Art? When did you get here?" She asked, standing next to him.

He gave an awkward smile, "As soon as I heard the announcement, I thought there had been an attack or something…"

"Not entirely," She grumbled, "Some ass mutilated our shit."

"Yeah, I heard from Riley."

Imy looked around, "Where is Riley?" She asked curiously.

"Tatum dragged her off somewhere-" Art's words fell as he realized he had made a terrible mistake.

"Why the hell is Tatum here?" The already irritated girl growled dangerously, a darkened aura hanging over her.

"She followed me up the stage-"

"She _followed _you? When did she even see you?"

"Tatum wanted me to dance with her-"

"WHAT?"

"But I didn't!" He defended, raising his hands up, "And I told her I had a girlfriend, but she just wasn't hearing me Imy."

Imy ignored the rest of Art's ramble as the cogs in her head started to turn, "When did she ask you?"

"Well, I hardly see how that's the point Imy-"

"When, Art?" She said, a bit of begging in her tone.

"I saw her immediately after you guys went to set up," Art explained, "Why?"

Imy's mind rewound to the dinner at her house two nights ago. Tatum knew that The Discards would be playing, Tatum knew The RockOut well enough seeing as she had tagged along with her when they were younger, and she suddenly just appeared _directly _after someone had destroyed their equipment. Coincidence?

Not fricking likely.

"That bitch!" Imy said acidly, "Where'd she go?"

Art stared at her with a bit of worry, "Imy, what are you talking about?"

Imy didn't hear him, as her ocher eyes zeroed in on a chatty Tatum pulling a reluctant Riley back towards the stage area. Breezing passed Art, she strode over to the two girls, her mouth in a firm line.

"Hi Imy, didn't know you were still here," Tatum greeted.

Riley's uncomfortable face faded when she felt the hostile emotions flickering around her friend like an open flame, "Imy." She said in a warning tone.

But it went unheeded. Imy cocked back her fist, and before anyone had time to react, she sent it straight towards Tatum's jaw.

**OoO**

Don't you just love how small little scenes find their way into your thoughtfully planned outline, making you have to reorganize the entire thing? Oh, just me then? I couldn't resist giving Ezra some play though- I've become rather attached to him.

**Up Next: **The Daughters practice for their upcoming infiltration of Erebus, and Imy is slowly losing her grip.


	8. Practice Makes Annoyed Teleporters

_Night's Children: Acteus Reus_

**AN: **This is a really short chapter. Sorry about that, but it was being a pain, and instead of torturing myself over an additional five pages, I decided to just leave it as is. It's a bit of a filler, but the experiences Imy's holding come into play later : )

Oh! Quick question while I'm at it, are the readers okay with having two side stories in a row? The first (maybe only) one is definitely Trysten's, seeing as I have it halfway done and am too lazy to refit it, and I was thinking after that I'd put in Ezra's side story before book five. If not, it can go after five as well. Doesn't matter to me, whichever you guys prefer.

**Chapter Six: Practice Makes Annoyed Teleporters**

_The Next Day_

"I'm very disappointed in you, Imy," Said Jimena as she glared at the teleporter who was sitting across from her on a sofa that had a few scorch marks in the upholstery, "You shouldn't use your abilities to escape from your room when you're grounded."

Imy sent her a glare of her own, "My parents wouldn't have let me come otherwise," She said crossly.

"Because you punched their longtime friends' only daughter in the face for _absolutely no reason. _I can see why you're feeling so betrayed," The mentor for the Daughters of the Moon said dryly, "Imy you know better."

"I _had _a reason. I don't see what the big deal is, I didn't even use my powers against her!" She argued.

"You shouldn't have lashed out like that in the first place, Imy. The Daughters of Selene are supposed to be _pacifists, _and not use violence as an answer for problems. Hostility is a tool of evil, and if you behave so recklessly-"

"She completely trashed all of our equipment and ruined our show," Imy responded bitterly, mad that Jimena was angry at her for something like this. "She had it coming."

Jimena's angry face smoothed into a blank, chilly countenance, "I hope when you come to your senses, Imy, you'll understand what you're saying and not act so childish," She chastised, "I know what it's like to be angry at someone, I was once a _chola _after allbut you have to understand that punching _anyone _isn't the way. It's not the way of the moon, and it shouldn't be your way as a human either."

Imy swallowed the retort on the tip of her tongue and settled for crossing her arms and huffing, "Whatever. Where is everyone?"

Jimena sighed, acknowledging that anything else she said would go straight through one ear and out the other, "Aria and Carlos should be coming home from Tianna's soon, and Tessa is picking Riley up at the library on her way here." A calculating look made its way to her eyes, "I am having serious doubts about sending you into Erebus, maybe you aren't as prepared as I thought you were-"

Imy, realizing that her actions had upset her mentor to that degree, quickly cut off her train of thought, "It will be fine, Tatum won't be at Erebus and I _promise _I'll behave!" She offered rapidly, not wanting to be a detriment to her team.

The Magna Mater stared down the girl, and then exhaled, "Only if you swear to get out if it becomes too much for you to handle," She said, eyes narrowing, "You seem to have a problem with that, Imy."

To prove her dedication, Imy swallowed down the hasty retort, and gave a nod instead, "Sure."

The door to the apartment creaked open, and in walked Aria, flanked on her side by Carlos.

"Hey mom," Carlos said, nodding a hello in Imy's direction, "Sup Imy?"

She gave a muttered hello, and tried to get a grip on her outrageously growing temper before Tessa arrived with Riley- everyone's _favorite _little empath. The girl who knew everything about everyone and didn't actually care for anything.

Imy blinked. Where had that come from? Riley's powers were sometimes annoying, true, but she almost never intentionally used them. Normally the emotions sought her out, not the other way around. And Imy knew better than anyone that just because Riley was a bit more withdrawn and introspective than the average person didn't mean she didn't care. Imy slowly shook her head, maybe she was seriously losing it. A bit of guilt filtered into her, ever since Tatum had arrived, she had been lashing out at Riley more and more. Perhaps she needed a break?

As if on cue, the door opened yet again and Riley hesitantly entered, followed by Tessa who seemed to be engaging the shy girl on yet another rant of her older brother's overprotective methods of parenting.

"And then he started _smelling _my shirt for smoke!" Tessa said, "In front of _everyone_! What kind of person does that?"

Riley gave her almost-smile, "Did he smell anything?"

Tessa exhaled haughtily, "Just clove smoke from my cigarettes, but he thought it was marijuana, I swear-"

"You shouldn't even be smoking," Aria piped up from her seat as she started to unstrap her high-heeled shoes, flexing her toes in comfort after they were off, "It causes cancer, you know."

Tessa snorted, "Okay, I'll quit my smoking and return to popping XTC and dropping acid. Will that work for you, Doctor Moore?"

Aria's face twisted into a repulsive look, "There' s no need to get agitated."

Imy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Aria was worse than Riley sometimes, constantly preachy and nagging. She thought she was so much better than everyone and quite frankly it began to grind on Imy's nerves-

Yet again, Imy found herself stopping her train of thought midcourse, a feeling of confusion overcoming her. It was true that she and Aria had gotten off on the wrong foot, and yeah, she was pretty preachy, but she was working on it. Aria only asserted her values on other people because she was trying to do what she thought was best for them. It was her own, admittedly warped, method of helping people.

What was with her today?

"Now that everyone's here, we should start discussing how we're going to handle this, and which areas you girls want to focus on more for practicing," Jimena said, taking authority over the unruly bunch of teenagers.

"What about me?" Carlos butted in, "Everyone seems to keep forgetting that I have powers too."

"Your abilities aren't something that can be honed with practice," Jimena explained to her son, "Natural evasiveness and quick reflexes are something that's built into your system, not an attachment like the others' powers."

"I still want to help," He protested.

A flicker of something dangerous caught in Jimena's eye, "Alright, you can be Aria's punching bag when she practices."

Carlos's jaw dropped while Aria snickered, "Mom, that's already the basis of our relationship!"

"You volunteered," Jimena said quickly, before addressing the other girls, "Any suggestions?"

"Our defense could use some work," Tessa suggested, shivering slightly, "I was practically powerless against Isaac."

"You mentioned something about your illusion malfunctioning?" Jimena prompted.

The blonde goddess nodded, "It only lasted about thirty seconds."

Tessa was such a disappointment. She had the coolest power by far, yet she didn't even try to get a handle on it. She didn't have the same amount of dedication as the others, would rather go out and get stoned off her ass than practice honing her birthright-

What the hell? Imy blinked feverishly, trying to clear her mind. Where was all this coming from? Tessa had her faults, but they were no greater than any of the others', and she was giving an honest effort into getting clean. Why had she even thought that?

"What I don't understand is the sudden cold you said you felt," Aria said, turning to face Riley, "Did you feel anything like that when Tymmie or Dorian messed with you?"

The empath shook her head, "No, the Atrox's presence was almost…comforting."

"Then we'll have to assume it's an outside influence," Jimena muttered, facing her son and the healer, "Do any of The Guardians have abilities like this?"

"No, although Wrath will be reborn so there's a possibility," Aria said, a tinge of fear in her tone.

"Then the most we can do is keep a lookout, if any of you encounter the strange presence I don't want you to antagonize it-" Jimena trailed off when she noticed one of her charges being a bit more spacey than usual, "Imy? Are you feeling alright?"

Imy, startled, shot up straight in her seat, "Me? Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." She faltered slightly, "Totally cool."

Jimena rose a brow, "You're sure?"

"Yep."

"Then why don't you give a suggestion for the Erebus situation," Jimena said, deciding to test the teleporter's attentiveness.

She blinked sluggishly, "Um, we should work on our defense."

The stillness that went through the room implied that was the wrong answer.

"Tessa already proposed that," Jimena said, "Have you been paying attention? This isn't something you can disregard so casually Imy." Her words were laced heavily with disapproval.

Imy slammed her hand against her face, taking a deep breath, "I'm sorry. How about we do some one on one training, instead? We've been forgetting our own individual powers, and since there's a big chance of us getting separated at Erebus, we should learn how to function better as a one person team."

Jimena's expression became a level less severe, "You may have a point." Imy's face brightened, "But I still think it would be more productive if everyone fought together," Her face fell at having her idea shot down, "You were each given your own abilities, true, but they were meant to function as a system. Riley's powers to sense Followers, Tessa's to distract them, your teleportation to provide an escape, and Aria's gift to help any innocent bystanders who get involved." Jimena instructed, clearing her throat, "The heart, the mind, the spirit, and the body. Your powers are strongest together, and that's the only possible way you can grow."

"But what if we get separated? I was at Isaac's complete mercy last night," Tessa countered, siding with Imy on the argument.

"Each of you have abilities to defend yourselves, but I thought I had taught you at the very beginning of this that you were not meant to seek out Followers," Jimena said crossly.

Imy was the first to protest, "Then why did you send them out to Planet Bang at all?"

Their mentor exhaled, her nerves beginning to fray, "I asked you to go to Planet Bang to help those who were potential victims of the Atrox, _not _to seek out and battle the actual Followers themselves." Her dark eyes glinted, "I thought I had expressed the need for a defense only policy when serving as Daughters. Apparently some of you are forgetting this."

An embarrassed silence overcame the teenagers sitting in the room. Aria and Carlos shared a meaningful glance- the two had perhaps broken this principle rule the most, with their violent confrontation against the Guardians of Hades. Even though they had not instigated the attack, they still handled the situation far more aggressively than servants of Selene were supposed to.

Jimena cleared her throat, "But for now that's neither here nor there. What's done is done," She paused, deep in thought, "The only Daughter without a power that would allow them to defend themselves is Aria," She looked up, "Carlos, as a charge of Eileithyia you're supposed to work with Aria, correct?"

He shrugged, "If she's not being too bitchy-"

An abrupt jab to his ribs from the healer's elbow caused the rest of his statement to fall short, "I don't think she has a problem protecting herself." He muttered sourly.

Jimena was silent for another moment, a calculating look upon her features, "There should be two teams for this. Imy, since you and Riley are performing with Art and Zahi, you four will be in charge of assessing the threat level of Absinthe-"

"We're not sure if they're playing the same night," Imy pointed out, Riley nodding in agreement.

"Then talk to the stage manager at Erebus, other bands playing, get as much information as possible," Jimena said breezily, "Aria, Tessa, and Carlos will take crowd control. Since the Followers aren't familiar with Carlos-"

"Heh, yeah forgot to tell you about that," Carlos muttered awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck, "I kind of punched a Follower in the face last weekend."

A sour expression acquired on Jimena's countenance, "That seems to be happening a lot recently," She mumbled with a pointed glare in Imy's general direction, "Does he know you have powers?"

He shook his head, "No, he might not have even gotten a good look at my face, but better safe than sorry yeah?"

Jimena shook her head, "Fine. Tessa, Aria, and Carlos you three are to infiltrate the crowds at Erebus, find out who the main players are with each faction- _Infidi _and _Incinti._ See if you can discover if they're attempting a strike against us." A softness entered her eyes, "You three will be handling the more dangerous task, if you have any problems, your main objective is to get out of there safely."

"No sweat," Tessa said with a bit of smugness interlaced within her tone.

"We can handle it," Aria agreed, Carlos nodding beside her.

"I want to stress that you _are __**not **_to engage any Follower in a fight, this is purely for information gathering purposes. To attack in a club overflowing with the Atrox's main henchmen is suicide. Are we clear?" She asked the group of five.

"Crystal," Chimed Imy.

"No maiming," Supported Tessa with a grin.

"I'll keep Aria from going psycho-ow! Damn it!" Carlos hissed, yet again rubbing his side.

"The only person I'll be abusing is Carlos," Aria said sickly sweet.

Riley just gave a half-nod.

Jimena smiled and stood up, "Alright then, let's go practice. I want Tessa and Riley to work with each other, and Aria with Carlos."

Imy rose an eyebrow in confusion, "Then who will I be practicing with?" Imy normally practiced her abilities with Aria, as the two of them had the more physically focused powers as opposed to mental ones like Tessa and Riley.

There was a hint of a smirk from the Magna Mater, "Me."

Imy tried hard to stifle her gasp of horror. Really, she did.

Jimena's smirk just spread.

OoO

Behind Jimena's apartment building there was an abandoned junk yard. The place was an area that was littered with trash, shreds of metal, and other eclectic objects and surrounded by a twelve foot tall wooden fence with barbed wire at the top. Jimena had explained to the girls that the junk yard had been acquired eight years ago, purchased off some bum greaser mechanic, and ever since then it had been the spot where she had taken all of her charges to practice. It was private, relatively safe, and more importantly hard to break into. The air outside was crisp, not exactly clean- this _was _Los Angeles after all, but pleasant enough and the six of them made their way down the three flights of stairs and out into the open.

Jimena took the lead, her fingers nimbly clicking into place the tumblers on the heavy duty padlock hanging on the entrance. It snapped open without any resistance, and the group sauntered inwards.

"How long today?" Tessa asked, a hint of a whine in her tone implying she wasn't keen on spending hours on end projecting illusions.

"Long enough," Jimena replied obtusely, spinning on her heel and facing Imy, "Alright, get going- just standard exercises today."

Riley was the first one to move, charging herself up as a gray energy collected and hovered over her in a perfect balance. Tessa was second, her expression intensely concentrated as an unrestrained golden aura hissed and cackled around her with no control.

"Just remember to breath in deeply," Riley instructed calmly. Riley's control when voluntarily using her abilities was impeccable, probably the best out of the four Daughters. However, the only problem was that occasionally the powers would activate _in_voluntarily- making her extremely sensitive to others' feelings and influencing her own. Because of this, she was the ideal partner for Tessa. Riley could gauge Tessa's agitation and her focus perfectly, and could point out at what instances her emotions and power were functioning smoothly together.

Tessa, in turn, was the best partner for Riley as her rapidly changing powers forced Riley to be on her toes and to uphold the concentration on her own abilities for the duration of the exercise. Her power projected chaos, and it was a wonderful tool to teach Riley how to shut off her almost constantly working ability.

"No problem," Tessa mumbled as she pressed her hands together, eyes lightly shut as she tried some half-assed meditation routines to get herself serene and collected.

While the two mind manipulators were preoccupied, Carlos chose the moment to spring a surprise attack on his girlfriend. Aria, startled, gave a yelp and dodged nimbly at the last second, Carlos's fist punching through the air where her head had been a second ago.

The two were well situated for each other as well. Carlos and Aria had abilities that forced them to be specialists in evasion, and were the strongest based defense for the group. Aria was the recovery, and Carlos was the shield. By working together, it was almost a sure guarantee that they would top whatever enemy they came across without lifting a finger. After all, how does someone defeat an opponent that can dodge every single attack? Can recharge its energy and heal its wounds instantly? Not easily, and their best strength was that the two charges of Eileithyia could wear out their enemies long before they themselves grew tired. It was the ultimate pacifist offensive.

Imy watched the groups train, and bit her lower lip. Through her speculation, she was having an incredibly difficult time discovering how she exactly fit into the mold of this newly formed team. She didn't have a manipulative or distorting power like Riley or Tessa, and teleportation couldn't provide an adequate defense. She was just the easy way out of bad situations, a loophole.

She felt a bit of a sinking pit in her stomach at that moment.

"Imy? Are you ready?" Came the calm voice of her mentor.

Imy turned around and faced Jimena, and couldn't help but feel a bit of bitterness lodge in her throat. Even Jimena, who hadn't been a Daughter in twenty years, seemed to be a better attribute to the team than her. Jimena had experience, and an answer to practically everything. Imy's contributions, which were few and far between, were almost always shot down.

A tiny flare of anger surged within her, adding to her previous irritation with her teammates, "Sure." She ground out between grit teeth.

Jimena eyed her oldest charge, a bit of confusion filtering in her from Imy's more…aggressive personality today. Sighing, she inwardly wrote it off as agitation from the previous instances with Tatum and prepared herself for the training, somehow inwardly knowing this would be a long session.

**OoO**

Apologies again for this being so short! But the next chapter will probably end up being MEGA long so I think that's fair, neh?

**Up Next: **Erebus


	9. Familiarity Breeds

_Night's Children: Acteus Reus_

**AN: **So much for my two week break, huh? What can I say, when my muses hit me, they hit me hard. Oh well, enjoy the chapter! Next one will be out hopefully next week.

**Chapter Seven: Familiarity Breeds…**

The next week passed by entirely too slow for Imy, since she spent most of it in confinement. Her parents, well mostly her dad, were still rather livid of their only child's actions regarding a certain Tatum McGuire. And until Imy apologized- again- she was grounded indefinitely.

What possibly pissed her off even more was the fact that none of her so called friends had her side in this. Riley especially, as the empath could easily manipulate her parents' anger and allow Imy to go free. When she had asked/pleaded/begged frantically for her _best friend _to change her dad's perspective, Riley had only sorrowfully shook her head, and mentioned something about an earlier promise Imy had made about Riley no longer having to clean up her messes. Aria and Jimena had even gone as far as to say Imy _deserved _this, and Tessa had only sighed and hesitantly agreed.

"You _did _punch the spawn in the face," She had said.

Imy's teeth grit against each other as she lay sprawled on her bed, her hands absently passing back and forth one of those stupid little stress balls her mother had gotten her after 'the incident'. It was only through Art having a one on one conversation with Imy's dad that she was even allowed to go out and practice with the remaining members of Round Table for the show tonight. Thankfully, her dad seemed to hold a soft spot for Imy's current boyfriend, and permitted Imy to help out since the show was to pay for the guys' rent money.

The stress ball dropped to the floor, rolling across the wooden planks and nestling in some arbitrary corner. Imy shifted over on her stomach and screamed into the pillow with total frustration. Having her inner rage abated with the action, she exhaled and tried to see it from her friends' perspective.

She had, on some level, taken advantage of Riley and her powers, she supposed. It was only fair that Riley wouldn't always want to interfere with Imy's life. And perhaps the punch had been a little unwarranted-

Imy cut herself off and scoffed, sitting up. The punch had been totally warranted. She would do it again without a second's thought. Imy wasn't a perfect goddess _all _of the time, none of them were. It was unfair of Jimena to expect that of her and it was _incredibly _unfair of Aria, the most reluctant of them all, to be so hypocritical. And why _wouldn't _her best friend, sister by all but blood, want to help her out of a sticky situation? Selene knew that Imy had bailed Riley's ass out of her almost Cold Fired ceremony a few months ago. Riley _owed _her. Big time.

Shaking her head, and trying to clear her overwrought thoughts, Imy reluctantly launched herself off of the bed. She had a show to get ready for, and if she was late, Zahi would have her ass.

Yet another propulsion of irritation hit her full force. Zahi, the oldest of the once three boys, seemed a bit domineering and over controlling. He wanted everything perfect, and damn it all his word was total **law.** Imy rolled her eyes as she rifled through her closet for an outfit. She didn't see why Art put up with the jerk sometimes.

An inward sigh assailed her. She liked Art a lot, maybe even loved him, but he was such a complete _wuss _sometimes. Zahi walked all over him, and Tatum persisted her advances even though everyone could tell they made him uncomfortable. She knew that one of the reasons why she was dating Art instead of some other guy was for his somewhat teddy bear persona, but would it kill the guy to grow a little backbone sometime?

Her ochre eyes landed on two possible outfits. One was a simple black dress, decently long with a scoop neck and some tartan sewn into the hems. The other was a bit more…provocative. It consisted of a top made with some clingy mesh material, and a shredded red over shirt that barely covered the appropriate bits. The skirt was short enough to require boy shorts underneath.

Imy worried her lip. While she wasn't the most conservative of girls, Riley owned that category hands-down, she also wasn't the type to flaunt every inch of herself either. The second little number clearly did that, for it seemed a bit too showy and ostentatious for the teenaged teleporter. Sighing, Imy started to put the second outfit away-

But her hand stilled, and she paused in contemplation.

She was only young once, right? And she had the right body type to pull it off, so what was the harm done? Hell, it might even muster up some fan boys for Art's band. Her hand quickly switched the hangers, and she started to get ready for tonight, tying a half-rolled red bandana around her neck and smoothing her chaotic hair into a halfway decent style.

OoO

"_Damn _did you have to teleport into that outfit?" Came Tessa crassly, but with humor, as Imy strode up to the outside of Jimena's apartment building where her fellow goddesses, plus Carlos, were waiting.

Imy smirked, "Looks good though, right?"

Tessa laughed, "Looks _great. _Besides, who am I to judge on the tightness of clothes?" She made an elaborate swoop of her hand over her own ensemble, a satin backless halter and some dark jeans.

"We get it, you both felt like dressing slutty tonight," Aria said with a huff, "Can we get this over with? We've been here waiting for at least half an hour," She proclaimed with agitation, nervously rubbing her arms in a self-hug.

Imy rolled her eyes, accustomed to Aria's nagging streak, "I'm not that late," She paused, noticing that one of their party was suspiciously absent, "Where's Jimena?"

Carlos, who had been lazily leaning against the brick wall of the building grumbled, "Something came up with that cop." The way he had said 'cop' indicated that it could quickly be replaced with the word 'fungus'.

Imy paused, confusion overtaking her for a brief moment, "Is Jacobson okay?"

"Nothing like that," Came Riley as the shy empath spoke up for the first time that night. She averted her eyes downward, staring at the clasped hands in her lap as she sat on a ledge, her feet absently kicking themselves together.

The only boy of the group snorted, his fingers going into mock air quote mode, "Apparently she felt the urge to 'warn' him." A grimace, "Personally."

Tessa's mouth contorted into a wry expression, "Oh, so _that's _what they're calling it nowadays-"

"Please, _please _don't go any further with that," Muttered Carlos sourly, obviously not liking the fact that the stick in the ass cop was getting closer to his mother.

"There's nothing wrong with Jimena wanting some _quality, alone_, time with everyone's favorite policeman," Tessa said with a wink, "Christ knows that it's about time Jimena got lai-"

"Can you teleport us all to Erebus at once?" Aria butted in quickly, her worry over the upcoming confrontation affecting her attitude and making her a bit short tempered and waspish.

Imy sneered, "Of course," She said dismissively, flapping her hand for emphasis, "Would you just calm down for a damn second? It's not a pressing matter."

Silence overcame the crowd at Imy's little outburst, Aria blinking slowly. She could be an absolute bitch, she knew and accepted that, but it was rare that she provoked _Imy _into snapping back. That was usually Tessa's alley.

Riley seemed concerned as well, sending a quizzical look to her best friend, "Is something wrong?" She spoke carefully, testing the waters.

"Oh, no. Nothing's wrong. I've just been locked up in a box for a whole week because _certain _people don't find it necessary to help out." Imy replied with a pointed glare.

Riley's face was still unnervingly blank, not looking affected at all but rather introspective. As _freaking _always.

Tessa seemed to notice the tension in the air, and cleared her throat awkwardly, "How about we get going?"

Carlos, also waiting for an opportunity to put some distance between himself and the unusually moody teleporter nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, you're going to be late." He prompted.

Imy took a deep breath, before reluctantly assenting. Her eyes fluttered shut, and a white line began to draw itself around the group of Selene's pledges.

"Imy! You didn't even check for witnesses-" Aria protested angrily, but she was cut off as the line rose into the air and the five vanished in a flash of white light.

OoO

Zahi sighed with a mixture of irritation and paranoia as he checked the wristwatch- an article of clothing he was just getting used to owning- for about the millionth time. The girls, Imy and Riley, were late. Whether they were late due to normal or Follower circumstances is what had the bassist on edge as he tried to reign in his patience and agitation. To his side, Art was starting to pace back and forth, a guitar gig bag strapped across his back as he tried to avoid looking out into the crowd of Erebus.

Erebus was a very modish establishment. Since it was a new club, everything was refurnished with ridiculously expensive accessories. The walls were coated in a fresh layer of black paint, the floor as well, and the lights were sparse and sporadic- emphasizing the feelings of chaos and despair within the place. There were three tiers, the bottom being the pit to the area where the dancers were, above that were lavish seating areas, and at the very top were the elite VIP sections that were under heavy guard, no doubt where leaders of both sides would hold their meetings. The stage by itself was impressive, black velvet curtains, newly instated lighting and sound equipment, and some of the most sophisticated gear Zahi had ever experienced.

That didn't take away from the crowd though.

A sea of yellow eyes stared back at Zahi as he glared out into the crowd from the side of the stage. Almost everyone in the establishment were Followers, with the exception of a few stragglers that had wormed their way in. The sensation of darkness was strong and suffocating, and Zahi could feel the old sinister stirrings ignite in his heart again. He was sure his own eyes were the saffron color of the Atrox. It was beyond risky to be playing here, but Art had a point. This was a neutral spot, both sides knew better to instigate territorial rights over either the bounty on his and Art's heads, or that of the Daughters'. The _Incinti _and the _Infidi _were constantly at each others' throats, true, but they were aware of the subtle balance of power between them, and the need for a neutral zone was more overpowering than a few subordinates of Selene.

Zahi's eyes slid over to the side, where he scrutinized the band that the girls were meant to investigate.

Absinthe. A four member band that was loyal to the _Incinti. _The group was using their newfound popularity to lure innocent fans in and steal their hope, and their success rate was unusually high. Currently they were preparing to go on stage, their set was before Round Table's, and so far Zahi had only been able to deduct their names, not wanting to give himself away by prying into their minds.

Wickett, the front man and programmer, was warming up his voice in a corner. The boy appeared to be a typical goth on the outside. His artificially black hair was combed and slicked into a Devil's Lock, and he had black gunk around his eyes that made him look like a severely tormented raccoon. A metal barbell was pierced through the bridge of his nose, as well as two more through the backsides of his wrists. He was reportedly the strongest mind manipulator of the four.

Zahi then stared at the guitarist. It was a boy, but it was hard to tell, and Zahi had heard the bassist refer to him as Nurse. He appeared to be older, but physical appearances were deceiving, and he had an androgynous look to him. He was wearing a midriff mesh shirt with white suspenders that connected to a pair of black boy shorts. Thigh high socks made of the same material as his shirt covered his legs, and his bleach blond hair was pulled into many small spikes that made him seem to be a porcupine.

The once Immortal Follower then evaluated the only girl of the group, the drummer whose name was Uschi. She was a fragile looking girl with half of her head shaved, the rest trailing to her hips. There was a barcode tattoo on her neck and her ears were gauged to the point of looking like they held dinner plates in them. She was supposed to be the best at shape shifting, but Zahi was uncertain.

Finally, came the most physically intimidating of the group. The bassist's name was Mendicant, and he was a two hundred pound man with a shaved head that had an inverted pentagram tattooed on the scalp. A bar was through his nose's septum and his chin sported a metal spike. Mendicant looked like a shaved gorilla, holding a black eye and bloodied knuckles.

As if sensing his stare, the bassist swerved on his heel and locked eyes with the powerful telepath. Zahi refused to be intimidated, even as the brute of a man bared his teeth and snarled. Quickly, Zahi deducted that Mendicant was probably the weakest of the four, with a telepathic ability on par with Art's.

"They're stronger than I expected," Zahi mused out loud silently.

"I know," Art supplied, finally halting his pacing and standing next to him, swinging the guitar bag, which had the initials 'T.H.' scrawled on it with magic marker, off of his shoulder, "Imy and them should have been here by now." He said with a tinge of worriment.

Zahi nodded, a distracted appearance on his face as he continued his observation of the goth band. Nurse also seemed to be sensitive to his scrutiny as he turned to look over his shoulder. As soon as his yellow eyes met Zahi's, he smirked and gave a little wink before turning his attention back to his guitar.

"They're going to be a handful," Zahi exhaled in exasperation, finally turning his attention away from the band and facing Art, "Calm down." He instructed.

Art ran a hand through his messy brown hair, "I would but-" His words fell short as suddenly a brilliant flash of light occurred out of the corner of his eye. He froze, and slowly turned around.

Zahi scowled when he noted the four musicians in the corner turn around towards the source also, "Imy what the hell are you thinking?" He demanded in an angry whisper.

Standing there, obviously having just teleported in, were Imy and an abashed looking Riley. Art's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw what his girlfriend was wearing.

Imy gave a mock salute, "Sorry we're late," She said in a voice that was a bit too upbeat.

"I told her to take the back exit," Riley mumbled apologetically as she shifted from foot to foot.

Zahi quickly swerved to see Absinthe's reaction. The only give away was the hungry look that had acquired within all of their eyes, as well as a sadistic smile spreading across Wickett's face. "_Zut,_" He swore in a repressed manner, glaring at Imy, "That was reckless."

Imy shrugged, "We were running late."

"Um, I like your shirt," Art mumbled, blushing to the point of looking like a tomato, "But are you sure you want to wear it onstage?"

Imy stared at him with round eyes, "Why else would I be wearing it?" She said in a voice that was more coy than usual.

Art fidgeted uncomfortably, "Oh. That's nice then." He mumbled, inwardly going back through all of those relationship books he had gotten at the library after he and Imy had gone out for the first time. Modern men were not supposed to be commanding in the relationship, women had the right to choose. Wait, was that suffrage? How did people in this time say to their girlfriend 'your clothes show things that I don't want certain people seeing'?

"Art, you said you brought a guitar?" Riley questioned, staring at the floundering boy with some concern.

Startled, he jerked out of his mental plan, and gingerly held out the black bag, "This one okay?" He asked hesitantly.

Riley, not seeing the miniscule 'T.H.', took it without any hesitation and quickly brought it out. The model was a little different than she what she was used to handling- a larger semi-hollow, but she hooked the strap around her neck. After trying a few strums, she nodded, "This will be fine. Thank you."

Art smiled, "No problem."

Zahi, however, was still outright glaring at the teleporter who was unraveling her microphone cord. Anger accumulated around him the same way static collected around an area that was about to be struck by lightening. "Imy-" He started, equipped with the correct reproachful tone, but his rant on responsibility and the use of powers was cut off when the stage manager totted up.

The woman who came up was overweight and dressed in a tight pinstripe suit as she walked over to the members of Absinthe. A few words were exchanged, and suddenly five Follower heads swerved to look at the remaining members of Round Table and the two goddesses. Imy gave a cheeky smile and wave, Zahi switched his glare from the immature brunette back to Mendicant, Art inched away slightly, and Riley flat out ignored them.

"They know who we are," Mumbled Art as he dug out some drumsticks from his rear pocket.

Zahi shrugged, "Let them. It can only help us, no one is going to want to pick a fight with an ex Immortal and two goddesses."

Riley turned towards the source of the stares, "Are they-?" She was cut off as the harassed looking stage manager strutted up to the front, announcing into the microphone.

"Absinthe's playing now." She said curtly with absolutely no enthusiasm, before stomping off. Imy and Riley's eyes were widened in shock, compared to Killian this manager was a total bitch.

The stage went dark as the members went to their posts, four pairs of eyes glowing in the darkness. Imy shivered slightly, when she noticed that one pair never moved from her. The vocalist continued to watch them as the lights flashed back on and heavy goth rock started to fill the club. There was almost a magnetic pull as she watched the four, a feeling of entrancement overcame her as she stared, the need to go to their side.

"I don't believe it," Mumbled Riley, as she too seemed preoccupied with the performance from where they watched offstage.

"What?" Zahi snapped slightly, still stewing over Imy's irresponsible entrance.

"They're using empathy."

Zahi turned all of his attention to the reclusive Daughter, "What do you mean?"

Riley shook her head, as if to clear her thoughts, "It must be why they have such a high success rate, they're stimulating the darker emotions in people." She explained analytically.

"Which one?" Art ventured shakily.

Riley inhaled, and her eyes fluttered shut, "The singer. It's not empathy, exactly, but like a weaker copycat of it." Her eyes snapped open, "He's using pure telepathy to twist feelings." Although her words were flat, it was obvious she was surprised by the tinniest of frowns on her face.

Imy's eyes widened, and she scrutinized the band more closely. The lead singer, a gangly looking boy who appeared to be Zahi's age, swerved on his heel from where he was belting out lyrics, and faced the brunette teleporter. His coal black lips twisted into a sultry smile when they locked eyes, and he flexed his index finger in a beckoning motion towards Imy.

She shivered.

Art, standing off to the side, didn't miss the exchange.

OoO

"Can you believe her?" Shouted Aria in agitation as she brushed a rotted banana peel from her shoulder.

Tessa tried incredibly hard to stifle the snort building as she watched the face of disgust Aria made as she removed other bits of garbage off of her, "Well, you were being kind of naggy-"

"So it's _okay _for her to dump me in _garbage_?!" She demanded crossly, glaring at her blonde partner in fighting evil.

"Lighten up," Carlos muttered good-naturedly, until he saw the awful ball of rage that was his girlfriend as she glared at him, "I mean, um, you look great in anything?" He ventured quickly to spare himself from grievous bodily harm.

Steaming, Aria tried to brush off her anger and shook her arms loose, "Whatever." She mumbled, still obviously mad but willing to ignore it for now, "Let's get this over with."

"I wish I could play an instrument and get the cush jobs," Tessa whined, "Why do _we _always have to be the ones with the most dangerous assignments?"

Aria shrugged, "Seniority? Imy and Riley were working by themselves for a long time."

"I hate you and your logic," The blonde grumbled, smoothing her hair down, "Alright, let's go crash a Follower party."

The healer huffed and straightened out her now wrinkled skirt, "Fine. But I'm not letting Imy get away with this," She mumbled, as she started towards the entrance of the club.

Tessa and Carlos shared a knowing smile before they went after her, Carlos threading his fingers in Aria's as they approached the line.

The population of Erebus was a regular melting pot of subculture. Mixed in the line were people dressed like they were going to church, Rastafarians, neohippies, Goths, punkers, clubbers, hardcore kids, and every other walk of life the night had to offer. They all had one thing in common, however, and that was the darkened aura that seemed to cling to them. They weren't all Followers, a few were Initiates, and some others were regular people who had made the unfortunate decision to go to the new club in town for tonight.

Carlos gave a low whistle, "These people are crazy," He muttered to himself, staring at the glistening yellow in the darkness, "Followers?" He ventured, the charge of Eileithyia not very familiar with servants of the Atrox.

Aria nodded, "Remember not to look into their eyes," She warned her boyfriend, as he wrapped an arm around her waist and they took a spot in line.

Tessa huffed as she was left behind, "Just because I'm third wheel does _not _make me chopped liver," She grumbled, striding after them with a haughty air.

The line moved forward quickly, the bouncer rapidly allowing those worthy to enter and cruelly dismissing those who weren't. When Carlos and Aria strode up he eyed them both warily, sensing that their auras were different from those of regular teenagers, but failing to detect the Atrox's presence about them. In order to create less disruption, the Daughters had tucked their moon amulets safely behind their shirts so they wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb.

"How old are you kids?" He questioned, motioning with a clipboard that didn't actually have any names on it.

Carlos smirked, "Old enough." He said bluntly.

The bouncer eyed them suspiciously, and Tessa decided to intervene. She stood in front of them, her blue eyes glistening golden for a moment, "They're with me." She said cheerily, a seductive grin on her face.

The bouncer's distrustful face fell away, the golden illusion making their otherworldly auras dissipate. He unfastened the black rope with an efficient click, gesturing to the doorway with an elaborate sweep of his meaty hand, "Go on in." He said, a predatory lilt in his smile.

Tessa grinned back, "Thanks."

With that she stormed in like she owned the place, Carlos went after her and Aria eyed her counterpart with hardly concealed shock. Since when could Tessa cast an illusion that required such subtlety? It didn't seem on par with her current capacity for control, and something wasn't adding up. Aria stared at the back of Tessa's golden head in suspicion, what wasn't her fellow Daughter of the Moon telling her? Imy too, for that matter.

"Aria, you there?" Came Carlos, inquisitively rapping a fist against her head for good measure.

Aria sneered, and shoved his hand off, "I'm not a door knocker!" She said in protest.

Carlos grinned, "You spaced out, nervous?" She didn't miss the teasing note in his tone.

Aria bit her lip, "It's nothing." She turned to Tessa, "How do we do this?"

Tessa looked contemplative, "Well, we do have the best people skills out of us four, why don't we just mingle with some underlings, and try to figure out who's the actual threat to us- _Incinti _or _Infidi._"

"What if it's both?" Aria said, discomfort apparent in her body language as she wrapped an arm subconsciously around her opposite shoulder.

Tessa shrugged, seeming a bit too carefree for Aria's taste, "Then we have a leg up on the competition, don't we?"

"What exactly am I doing, then?" Carlos interjected, beginning to feel out of the loop.

Tessa laughed, "You have a nice ass, use it." Her eyes scanned the crowd, "That's pretty much what Aria and I will be doing anyway." She began to evaluate all the unattached males in the crowd, "See anyone eyeballing us?"

Carlos's face acquired a sour expression, "I don't think that's a good idea, for either of you-"

"Lighten up, it's nothing serious." Tessa chided, "We're just going to stick to the low powered Initiates."

Aria shook her head, "I agree with Chuck. Tsiro was supposed to be a weak Follower, but he almost overpowered me."

"But then I punched him in the face," Carlos said proudly.

The healer rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes you did." She said saccharinely.

Tessa seemed to weigh this in her mind, "Then you and Carlos stick together, I at least have the power to defend myself." She said in an attempt to bate Aria into one of their numerous verbal spats.

Aria was feeling far too much anxiety about casually chatting up Followers to take any notice to the jab at her abilities, "Can you handle it? Your power isn't exactly reliable." She said.

The blonde sighed, "I know, I know. That's why I'm going to just go with the guys who don't even know telepathy, believe me, there's plenty of them here." Her blue eyes landed on someone off to the side, someone who had been staring at her ever since she had walked in, "In fact, I think I see one now." She winked at Carlos and Aria, "Wish me luck."

"Good luck!" Carlos said supportively, giving an intentionally phony thumbs-up.

Aria's eyebrow twitched slightly as she folded her arms over her chest, "Don't do anything too idiotic."

"I'll leave that to you," Tessa replied snidely, before going over towards a more secluded area of the club.

Aria turned to Carlos, about to ask him something, when the lights dimmed, and the band that had been previously playing, a goth group, ended their set. "I think Imy and Riley are about to go on," She said, staring up at the stage.

As if on cue, the four musicians for the newly reconstituted Round Table sauntered onto stage. It was almost amusing, watching their faces. Riley, as she strapped on a guitar far too big for her, looked like a deer caught in the headlights as she stared out into the crowd, no doubt feeling all of the negative emotion in the air. In the back, Art rolled his shoulders and it was easy to see how uncomfortable he was by how his mouth kept quirking into a nervous grin that looked like it had been fastened to his face with a wrench. Zahi, however, looked perfectly at ease as he plugged in his bass, his handsome features attracting most of the female members of the club as he prepared the microphone for himself to provide backing vocals.

And then there was Imy.

Aria knew that it was perfectly normal for Imy to never get stage fright- she was a born performer, after all. But what was unsettling to the healer was that she looked _too _comfortable amongst the club infested with Followers. Her posture, her carefree smile, everything about her seemed to signify that she belonged there, that she was totally at home. It was slightly unnerving, as even the greatest of performers would feel a slight bit of unease when singing in front of a crowd full of enemies.

"She's got nerves of steel," Carlos commented appreciatively, obviously not getting the implications.

Aria's amber eyes narrowed almost unnoticeably, "I don't think that's a good thing," She whispered to herself, but Carlos overheard and sent her a quizzical look.

Before he had time to question his girlfriend, Imy was speaking into the microphone.

"I know I'm not who you were expecting," She said easily, "But I hope I do justice to these songs." She paused and grinned playfully, "Let's have some fun, huh?"

Her message was surprisingly greeted with cheers instead of suspicion, and Art began to set the beat with his drumsticks before the loud music started. As soon as they started their songs, bodies began to dance around the couple in accordance to the beat. Carlos grabbed Aria's hand tentatively.

"We can question Followers later, can't we?" He asked with a fake shyness.

Aria gave a false exasperated sigh, "I guess, but you better make it worth my while."

The surfer's eyebrows lifted appreciatively, and the two began to dance, Aria occasionally sending nervous glances to the band onstage. More specifically, to their vocalist.

OoO

Wickett absently pushed aside the long tendril of black hair out of his eyes as he leaned against the wall, stare trained on the band performing to the side. He was quickly joined by three more people, two boys and one girl.

"What do you think?" Asked the gruff voice of Mendicant, addressing the unofficial boss of the group.

Wickett smiled, an unnerving expression, as he gestured with a nod towards the girl singing, "That one."

Mendicant's lip tugged into a frown, "That one what?" He demanded.

The smile spread, "That's the one I want." He paused, a yellow sheen crossing his eyes, "She's a Daughter, and one who's already deeply connected with the dark side." He licked his lips slowly, "She'll be fun."

Uschi, the frail little drummer girl, snorted with disdain, "Why do _you _get the Daughter, dickhead?" She accused coarsely.

Wickett's face held a vacant aspect to it, as if searching for something far away, "There's two of them," He drawled, "You can have the other one."

Uschi's button-like nose wrinkled in disbelief, "Where is she, then?"

"The shy guitarist," Said Nurse for the first time, his voice holding a lilt that made it seem as if he were constantly laughing about something, "She hides her abilities well, but you can tell if you watch closely for a long enough time."

"I call her then," Mendicant growled.

"Hell no!" Uschi snarled, "You suck at telepathy, there's no way you think you can handle a Daughter!" She spat, "Besides, it's _my _turn, I never get _any _fun!"

Mendicant bared his teeth, "Listen here, you little shit, I'm sick of hearing your bitching. You think if you throw a damn tantrum every time something doesn't go your way-"

"Based on your abilities, Uschi wins this round," Wickett reasoned, "Your power's more compatible to the drummer's."

"I don't give a damn, I want to take on the Daughter," Mendicant spat, "She seems interesting." Mendicant paused as he took in the guitarist's features for the first time, "Actually, she looks like-" He voice trailed off when he realized who exactly she looked like. "Damn." He murmured, his previous ire replaced with the standard 'well, shit' tone people got when they underestimated their opponents.

Wickett gave a self-satisfied smirk, "Still want to go after her? Knowing that she's Cassandra's?"

Mendicant, realizing that he was being insulted somehow, gave a snort of derision, "Of course I do."

Uschi glared, "No fair!"

Wickett turned to the only girl of the four, "If you want the Daughter so bad, simply wait until Mendicant makes a total fool of himself."

Uschi gave a rather unpleasant grin, while Mendicant fumed in anger, sick of being his companions' source of amusement and barbs.

Nurse broke the exchange by giggling, "I call Zahi!" He chirped sweetly.

Silence overcame the younger members of the band, Uschi and Mendicant, as they stared at the bassist with disbelief.

"_The _Zahi?" Uschi mumbled, astonished.

"I don't believe it," Mendicant said off-handedly.

"It's him," Wickett clarified flatly, "You can't feel the power radiating off of him?"

"This is bullshit!" Heaved Uschi, stomping her platform boot against the floor, "You both get Daughters, Nurse gets an Immortal, and I get some weakling? Total bullshit!"

"Watch your language," Wickett admonished, "Besides, if you look around, you'll notice that there are more than just us eyeing the band."

Uschi scoffed, "Yeah, but they're all too chickenshit to do anything about it while we're in a neutral zone. This will be a piece of cake."

The leader of Absinthe shook his head, "Not necessarily," He said slowly, his eyes still hungrily watching the vocalist as she began to wrap up the band's last song, "For tonight, we lay low."

There were a series of muffled protests, before Wickett stared at all of them. With his piercing glare, they all fell silent, knowing that it would be in their best interest to listen to their boss. When he sensed their disappointment, he allowed a slight, toothy smile.

The music stopped, as Round Table finished their set, and Wickett returned his focus to the band that now held all the attention of Erebus.

"Well, there's still no reason why we can't say hello." He allowed, watching as the other three's faces lit up.

OoO

Imy's voice crooned the final note for the song as the music behind her started to fade away. As opposed to The Discards' sound, Round Table was more geared towards psychobily and a generally softer, more mellow tone with a lot less screaming and a lot more melody. Because of this, Imy was finding that her throat was feeling loads better after this show as she subconsciously rubbed around her neck as the lights went off.

"Didn't screw up too badly, did I?" She asked, swerving on her heel to face Zahi, who was removing the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand.

Zahi's eyes narrowed in concentration. Had this been any other night, he would have taken Imy's inquiry as an earnest question, but something was off with her now. There was an energy that seemed to cling to her, a far too precocious tilt in her smile. Was she _mocking _him?

He chose to ignore her as his stare drifted to Art, who was quickly dismantling his drum kit. The once _servus _paused to turn around and face his older brother figure. Art's suspicions were apparent in the slight shake of his head, the barely-there stoop in his shoulders. Green eyes glistened with intelligence and concern as they landed on the vocalist who had turned her attention to her best friend. The two boys followed the conversation intently.

"This was pretty fun, The Discards should book a few shows here," Imy said good-naturedly as she rolled her shoulders and prepared to walk off the stage.

Riley sent her an incredulous, 'are you completely insane?' look, "What are you talking about?"

"Erebus, the club's rather nice, I got good vibes from the crowd the whole time we were playing," Imy continued nonchalantly.

Riley's jaw would have dropped, if she hadn't long ago stopped demonstrating full facial expressions, "Imy, those weren't 'good vibes'," The empath muttered, "They were desperate…hungry."

Imy snorted, "Riley, I know feedback better than anyone," She huffed, "Honestly, you have one bad run in with them and you just group everyone together. We're just having fun."

The empath froze, halted by the sheer idiocy in Imy's statement. One bad run in? She had been almost killed by her own mother, subjected to mental torture, crippling emotional blows, losing Trysten, and gaining a hell of a lot of inner scarring through the process. Imy, herself, had been hospitalized and almost handed over to _Incinti _leaders. Riley shot a frantic look at both Zahi and Art, hoping that they knew what was going on.

Apparently they didn't.

"Imy, are you feeling alright?" Riley hesitantly ventured, "These are Followers. This club belongs to The Atrox." Her monotone dropped a level of intensity, if that were at all possible, "Our sworn enemy who wants nothing more than to see us destroyed."

Imy gave a simple little shrug before sauntering off stage, "Maybe if you weren't so damn afraid of them, you'd be able to see the situation like I can."

Riley's eyes dilated as she watched Imy's retreating back, desperately trying to get a read off of her friend's emotions. She felt her heart plummet when she realized that everything coming from Imy was true, and even worse, that none of it was effected by an outside source.

Art stood up from his drum stool, "I'm going to talk to her," He announced unnecessarily, "She's been acting off all night, it must be something else," He attempted to soothe the distraught girl as he set his drum sticks down and exited off to the side.

Zahi leaned casually against the wall as he eyed the empath, "Didn't like what you saw?" He asked darkly, indicating Riley's previous read.

The girl shook her head, "I thought that maybe, earlier, she was just mad at me but…" She trailed off and sighed despondently, "She's never acted like this before." The placid eyes seemed to suddenly spark with an inner intensity, "Ever."

Zahi stared at Riley for a moment, a calculating sense about him as his eyes darted to the area where Imy and Art had just wandered off to. "I'll be right back." He said calmly, every bit of him about accomplishing business.

Riley just nodded, and soon Zahi was gone and the empath was alone on the stage. A pair of eyes in the shadows had watched the entire exchange with profound interest.

A pair of eyes that immediately zeroed in on the currently defenseless empath.

OoO

Okay, not super mega long, but still more than average! Hooray for barely passing expectations!

_Next Up: _Tessa gets a bit more than what she bargained for when she chats up a patron, Art straightens Imy out, Riley has a run in with an old…friend, and Zahi has a confrontation with a member of Absinthe.


	10. Little Darlings

_Night's Children: Acteus Reus_

**AN: **You guys get a SUPER DE DUPER long chapter this time since I'm going to be on a mystical voyage for a few weeks. Updates will resume probably towards the end of June for all of my stories.

**Chapter Eight: Little Darlings**

Riley struggled desperately as she tried to peel off her heavy sweater backstage, since she was overheated from playing under the copious amounts of stage lights. The article of clothing had snagged on her elbows and was halfway over her head, impairing her vision as she writhed her arms and neck about to loosen it up. It wasn't until a pair of helpful hands pulled the olive fabric off of her that she allowed herself to sigh in relief as sweet, cool air hit her.

Her face fell when she realized that it wasn't Imy, Art, or hell even Zahi that had aided her escape from the wool deathtrap. She blinked as she eyed the grinning face with cold eyes. "What do you want?" She demanded quickly, tensing into a defensive position.

Tymmie, holding onto the sweater that she was sure she didn't want back anymore, smirked, three hoops glinting with the motion, "Just helping you undress," He said, smirk growing.

Riley grimaced, knowing he loved to mess with her mind in other ways besides telepathy. She glanced, and noticed that neither Imy, Art, or Zahi had made their way back. Anxiety for her friends took over, as well as some uneasiness at being alone with Tymmie. She cleared her throat awkwardly, and set off to go after them, going around the older boy.

The lieutenant of _Infidi _stopped her with a firm hand on her bicep, "We need to talk." He said levelly.

She took her other hand and tried to pry his grip off, "We don't have anything to talk about," She said calmly despite the worry starting to build up in her chest. She didn't sense any hostile emotions from the powerful Follower, but Tymmie was one of the few who could actively shield themselves from her ability.

The smirk dropped from his face, "I know of something-some_one_, rather, who we _need _to talk about."

Riley froze, knowing that he was cornering her. Tymmie had stopped her twice this week already to have the so-called 'talks'. Mostly he skirted around the issue, the big issue, and had led her on with cryptic riddles and disjointed hints. She wasn't sure what game he was playing, but she knew he was luring her in to something.

"You've told me twice about Trysten," The name felt dry on her tongue, and she brushed away the stigma attached to it, "Both times without actually saying something." She muttered, "I don't know what scheme you're trying to manipulate me into, but I don't want any part of it."

Tymmie pouted, "You are so harsh sometimes. I'm trying to demonstrate concern."

Riley's eyebrows rose skeptically.

Tymmie sighed, "You're in danger." He said flatly.

Riley was a bit startled as the entire façade around him dropped suddenly, "Why should that matter to you?"

His granite colored eyes seemed to drill holes with their stare, "Because I don't want you getting crossed over," Riley almost startled, "Unless _I'm _the one doing it." Her shock faded.

The empath shook her head, "I need to get back to Imy-"

"She can wait," Tymmie practically ordered, his grip on her upper arm trailing down and grabbing her hand, steering her away from the stage area.

Riley grit her teeth as she felt frustrations grow in her, "What are you doing?" She asked crossly, trying the worm her fingers out of his hand.

"Taking this conversation away from prying minds," He responded vaguely, gesturing with his head towards the back corner of the stage area.

Riley looked over her shoulder and felt all the warmth drain out of her when her stare landed on the bassist for Absinthe, a big guy that was glaring at the pair with profound interest. A bit of panic fluttered in her chest, how long had he been there? And why hadn't she been able to sense him?

Riley stared at him again, and shivered when she noticed the starving look he kept throwing at her. "This had better be important." She whispered in defeat.

A wicked gleam caught in Tymmie's eyes, knowing that he had the empathetic girl right where he needed her, "Let's dance." He offered.

Riley paled, "I don't-"

She was cut off as Tymmie pulled her along into the crowd.

OoO

Imy leaned against the wall outside of the club, her head tilted back and her breathing starting to even out from the exertion of singing. Her eyes lightly fluttered shut and she winced inwardly when she replayed the discussion between her and Riley moments ago.

What the hell had she been thinking? Imy knew better than anyone what a sensitive topic the night of Trysten's Cold Fire was for Riley, so why did she bring it back up? The picture of her friend's crestfallen face kept flashing across her mind and Imy bit the inside of her cheek, ashamed and feeling like scum. This wasn't how she wanted to behave, Imy had always despised the catty, bitchy girls who threw a tantrum whenever circumstances didn't go exactly their way. She lived by an optimist's code, and wanted to live her life as best as she could while always looking for positives.

So why was she _still _stewing over something as mundane as being grounded for a week? She punched someone in the face, _of course _she was going to get grounded. Her rationale and self-righteous anger was ridiculous, and even worse, she was throwing her frustrations in her friends' faces.

Even if teleporting Aria into a dumpster had been rather funny…

Imy shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts as she folded her arms across her stomach. Maybe all of her stress from being a Daughter was just accumulating and these outbursts were just a way to let it out? She groaned, realizing that her reproachful inner voice was beginning to sound like Jimena.

The teleporter heard a door creak open, and a hesitant voice called out, "Imy? Are you out here?"

Imy's eyes widened, Art! She had completely ignored him all night, hadn't even said hello. She grimaced, she had a lot to figure out about herself before she went and hurt more people, "I'm right here." She said quietly.

Art stepped out into the alleyway, the dim light from the stars and half-moon illuminating his handsome, boyish features. His brown hair was still crazily disheveled as always, but there was a slight sheen of sweat in it from playing the drums under the heavy lighting. He smiled sheepishly and stood next to his girlfriend, who was staring out into the darkness contemplatively.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked gently.

She slowly shook her head, "I'm not sure what I would even say."

Art stared at her, watching the slight downward turn of her mouth she always got when she was overanalyzing something, "You don't _need _to say anything," He said soothingly, "But maybe it would help if you did?"

Imy chewed on her lip stud, "I'm sorry," She said clearly, her voice was still a bit raspy from singing earlier.

Art's eyebrows rose slightly, "I don't think it's me you should be apologizing to," He said.

Imy sighed, "I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but I honestly don't know what's gotten into me lately," She admitted, "I feel…smothered all of the time."

"Is Jimena riding you guys too hard?" Art questioned, concern in his eyes.

Imy shrugged, "No more than usual, I suppose. Even if she were, it's not like we can just quit. Aria tried that once, didn't quite work out for her."

He gave her an understanding look and rested an arm around her. She leaned into the embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. "It will get better," He promised. "Riley will forgive you, so will Zahi."

Imy stared at him, their eyes meeting. Unlike other people who would say something along the lines of 'everything will work out', Art actually meant it. He was a lot like her in that respect. Both of them were profound optimists, and she deeply admired his conviction of people being inherently good, even though they sadly always seemed to end up disappointing him. She smiled, and rested her forehead against his own, and he mirrored the expression. Her hand found his, and his rough thumb ran itself comfortingly across her knuckles.

He really was her rock, and it was times like this that she was so thankful to have him. Even when she lost her own purpose, he remained grounded in his own, which gave her hope. Art had been dealt the rough hand, but he still persevered. She could persevere too. With so few words, he made her feel safe, like everything really _would _work out in the end.

Imy exhaled, "I'll go apologize to Riley and Zahi." She murmured.

Art lifted his head before placing a chaste kiss on her forehead, "I'm always here for you, Imy. No matter what you may be dealing with." His green eyes glistened playfully, "But you need to remember to ask for help sometimes too."

She wrinkled her nose, "Are you saying I'm stubborn?"

He suddenly looked very uncomfortable, his eyes darting around, "Well…"

She laughed, and pulled away from him without untangling their hands. "I have a lot that I need to work on," She admitted, the mirth dying away to be replaced with embarrassment.

Art grinned and tilted her chin up, "I'll be here every step of the way. I know better than most people what it's like to lose yourself," He assured.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest, "Thank you." She whispered into his shirt.

"No problem…" He trailed off, and Imy could tell there was something he wanted to say.

"What?" She asked, confused.

He gave an awkward smile, "Um, are you sure you don't want to wear my jacket or something?" He said, trying desperately to keep his eyes only on her face.

She snorted, and elbowed him in the stomach, "Most guys would kill to have their girlfriend wearing something like this. But _no, _I get the guy with _manners_."

He rubbed the back of his head self-consciously, "And they say chivalry is dead…"

She rolled her eyes, "Give me your coat, dork."

He beamed and happily consented.

OoO

Tessa sauntered over easily towards the area where she had felt the stares coming from the most, tossing a golden curtain of hair over her shoulder haughtily and smirking when she saw several heads snap towards her direction. Cautiously, so not to appear too eager, Tessa sat gently at a bar stool, smiling charmingly at the bartender, an attractive man in his early twenties. Correction, an attractive _Follower _in his early twenties.

He smiled back, a crooked little gesture, "Can I get you anything?"

Her favorite answer, gin and tonic, was on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it down when she remembered she was on duty, "Any virgin drink you have." She supplied instead.

His eyebrows shot up, "Playing it safe tonight?"

Tessa winked, "For now."

He chuckled, approving of the answer as his eyes lingered for a moment longer than necessary, before digging out a can of regular soda.

"Put it on my tab," Came a smooth, baritone voice from behind Tessa's shoulder as the seat next to hers was suddenly occupied.

The blonde rolled her eyes, knowing that it was quite possibly the lamest maneuver ever to score, but she turned to look at her impromptu benefactor anyways, if for nothing else than to see if he was cute or not.

She felt her eyes widen slightly when they met a saffron stare. Remembering herself and her objective for tonight, she slowly shook away her shock, "Thanks." She said quietly, grabbing the can and popping the tab.

The Follower who had paid for her drink, someone who looked a few years older than her with a charming grin and obvious posh accent grinned, "I can spare a few dollars," He drawled, square-cut features morphing handsomely into a half-smile.

Tessa did a quick assessment of the person next to her. Judging by the aura surrounding him, he appeared to be a weaker Follower, and since he didn't seem to be staring her down like a hungry man does a steak, she took it to mean that he had just taken someone's hope- so she wasn't in immediate danger.

"What's your name?" She asked amiably, deciding he would be an optimum target to pump for information.

"Cheshire," He supplied, and Tessa snorted.

"Like the cat?"

His grin stretched, "Like the village." He politely corrected, extending his hand, "And you must be Tessa."

The illusionist felt the air rapidly leave her lungs, "Excuse me?" She stammered.

Cheshire laughed quietly, dropping the proffered hand to gesture with his thumb towards the back, "I believe you've met my friend?"

Tessa followed the direction of the thumb, and tremendous anxiety overcame her when she saw Tsiro lingering in the back with his brother and a few Follower girls. "Oh, shit." She proclaimed, her stare darting back towards Cheshire, "We're in the neutral zone, it would be suicide for you to fight me-"

The older boy chuckled, "Relax, love. I'm not here to hurt you," He leaned his head forward, his face inches away from her own, "I'm simply curious."

She blinked, confused, "Curious?"

His deft fingers hastily tucked back some of her blonde hair behind her ears, "It's not everyday we get Goddesses in our clubs, now is it?"

Tessa jerked back, eyes narrowing, "What do you want?" She demanded.

Cheshire smirked, "Just conversation. I've been watching you since you've come in, and you've piqued my interest, that's all."

Tessa stood up to leave, placing the unfinished soda down on the counter, "As much as I would love to satisfy your curiosity, I'm actually here for a reason."

"That wouldn't include gathering information about _Infidi _and _Incinti _plots, now would it?" He called after her, sounding far too smug. Tessa whirled around to face him, and he was absently picking at his fingernails. When he sensed her bewilderment, he shrugged, "Just a hunch."

Tessa snorted in disbelief, "What if it were?"

"I could help you out…for a price," Cheshire posed, still playing the nonchalant act.

Tessa's posture tried to assert itself as intimidating, "And what would that price be?"

Cheshire smiled, "You answer a few of _my _questions, of course." He paused, "And I won't give you any information from my side."

Tessa rolled her eyes, "What good would that do me?"

The Follower's smile spread, "I know enough _Incinti _secrets to satisfy you, I'm sure." He snorted, and his gaze trailed back towards Tsiro, "My new friend hasn't yet figured out that I'm loyal to _Infidi._"

Tessa worried her lower lip between her teeth, her gaze going to Cheshire, back out into the crowd where she knew Aria and Carlos were. This seemed like far too good of an opportunity to pass up, a Follower was willingly offering to give her answers. Still, it seemed a bit farfetched to be legit.

"What's the catch?" She demanded, despite herself intrigued.

"No catch," He explained, "It's really a win-win situation for me. You get information to undermine my rivals, and I get information about you."

Tessa sighed, "What kind of information about the Daughters do you want?"

Cheshire grinned, "You misunderstand me. Not the Daughters, _you._"

For some reason, this made her more uneasy than being asked to give an alphabetized list of the Daughters' weaknesses, "And why would you want to know about me?" She ventured hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

He leaned back comfortably in his seat, "You interest me, that's all."

Tessa seemed to weigh this in her mind. On the one hand, it could be an obvious trap, and this was some sort of elaborate scheme to undermine the Daughters of the Moon. Yet, if this Cheshire guy was being honest, she would be a complete idiot to pass this opportunity up.

Begrudgedly, Tessa sat down next to him, "I go first." She muttered bitterly.

The Follower's smile could have lit up the room.

OoO

Zahi wasn't far from surprised when he realized that his way towards Imy and Art was blocked. He had sensed the presence of the onlookers ever since he had finished his set, and had been attempting to draw them away from both the Daughters of the Moon.

"Can I help you?" He drawled, his coffee-colored stare narrowing in on the two lax forms in front of him.

Nurse, the scantily dressed male guitarist from Absinthe, was stretched out against a wall, his long legs crossed over each other and the tips of his fingers tucked into the small pockets of his short shorts. To his side stood Uschi, an annoyed expression on her bony face as her scrawny arms were folded in a haughty manner.

"I'm Nurse, but I'm sure you knew that," He said, his voice rather pitchy as he straightened from his slouch, his mouth fixed in an almost constant smile, "Just like I already know that you're Zahi."

"Achem," Came Uschi as she cleared her throat, obviously irritated with being overlooked.

"The runt's Uschi," Nurse amended, rolling his eyes, "We're very pleased to meet you."

"You didn't answer my question," Zahi said flatly.

"We're just dropping by to say hello," Nurse said, a yellow gleam in his brown eyes. "Maybe for a little fun as well?"

The once Immortal Follower allowed the tiniest of superior smirks to crawl on his face, "Does fun include crossing over two Daughters of the Moon?"

Nurse giggled, "You're quick," He paused, allowing his own smirk to go over his features, "But wrong."

"This is boring," Uschi grumbled, thin lips pressed in scowl of disapproval, "I thought facing an Immortal would be fun."

"What do you want then? I have things to do," Zahi mumbled, playing the nonchalant card in an attempt to lure them into a false sense of security.

"Are you always so impolite?" Nurse said, approval in his tone.

"Do you always make a habit of avoiding questions?" He retorted.

"Hm, you're snarky," pouted Nurse, pushing himself off of the wall to face Zahi, "It makes me want to cross you over even more."

Zahi rolled his eyes, and gave a flicker of power to demonstrate his darker side. The girl to the side stiffened, obviously effected by it, "I've already been crossed over." He said dryly, "Twice."

Nurse's face quirked up into a grin as he took a step closer, "Perhaps, but you have your hope still." He tapped a finger against his chin, "I wonder if the rumors are true? If the fabled Witch Goddess was the one who restored your hope?"

Zahi felt a sting of something familiar enter his chest whenever someone mentioned Serena, and his teeth grit, "You are not to speak of her."

Nurse giggled yet again, and Zahi wondered if this was a normal reaction for him or if he was high, "You're getting angry."

"More like irritated," He said coldly, another outburst of power coming from him as shadows began to whirl around him.

"Nurse, I think we should go get Wickett-" Came Uschi, her snotty persona discarded when she noticed the darkness gather around the ex Follower as well as the malevolence beginning to surround him.

"Shut up Uschi," He said, his tone light but edged with annoyance, "Go play with Mendicant if this is too much for you to handle."

Uschi chomped on her lower lip, obviously pissed with the casual dismissal, but she wasn't stupid and knew her limits. She sent Zahi a glare, before turning around and heading back towards the stage.

Zahi processed this slowly, if this Mendicant were at the stage, no doubt he was the one meant to engage Riley. While Riley could more than handle the overweight bassist, it made him feel a tremor of anxiety for Art, who would now likely be cornered by someone stronger than what he could handle.

"Wickett is your leader, then?" He asked shrewdly.

Nurse's nose wrinkled, "Don't be thinking about _him, _you're facing _me._" He said with mock despair, blinking away false tears.

Zahi gave a hiss of aggravation, "Who is he after?"

Nurse stuck his tongue out, "Not you!"

Zahi's patience was beginning to become severely strained, "I'll just find out for myself then." He mumbled, closing his eyes and trying to read Nurse's thoughts.

"Now you're just being naughty," The androgynous male replied, and Zahi was slightly startled to see that his telepathy had been blocked off, "It's rude to go somewhere you're not invited."

"Seems I underestimated your shielding ability," He said to himself, after a pause, he continued, "But you have underestimated me."

Nurse tilted his head to the side, "Now why's that?"

"If you think that only one of you can defeat me, you are sorely mistaken." Zahi exhaled, "I'm getting quite sick of people assuming I don't know how to have telepathic battles simply because I've been in Nefandus for a decade or two." He gave a dark smile, "I've been a Follower for eight hundred years, think you can compare?"

Nurse's eyes widened slightly, as he had not been expecting such a high number. He coughed awkwardly, "Well, when you put it like that…"

Zahi just shook his head, "You're grating my nerves, so I'm going to ask you nicely one more time, who is your leader after?"

Nurse sighed, but he was wising up to just how much strength Zahi had at his disposal, "The girl." He said shrugging.

"Nice try. There were two girls, which one?"

"The one with the brown hair. Wickett likes challenges," Nurse continued before turning around nonchalantly, his abrupt shift in attitude confusing Zahi immensely, "I see I'm going to need a bit more research, but it was a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." He said, waving his hand as he stalked off down the hall.

Zahi watched him go, his powers falling away as his jaw dropped in confusion.

OoO

"Does the frigid have an off switch?" Tymmie asked, his hands resting lightly on the tops of Riley's hips as the pair danced slowly underneath the lights. He was standing behind her, craning his neck to whisper in the empath's ear.

"No," She answered bluntly, putting a few more centimeters of distance between them as she leaned forward slightly. She noticed with some irritation that Tymmie's hands remained firmly in place, "What did you need to talk to me about?"

Tymmie tsked in disapproval, his tongue barbell clicking against his teeth with the motion, "With you Daughters it's always about business, isn't it?"

Riley tensed even further, "What else would this be about?"

He smirked, even though Riley couldn't see the action, "Two friends enjoying each others' company."

Riley felt her eyes widen, "F-friends?" She stammered, a rare sign of her being actually caught off guard.

Tymmie laughed, a sound far too cruel to be genuine, and he spun Riley around so that she was facing him, "Of course," He said smiling like a cat who ate a canary, "I _am _looking out for your best interests after all."

The empath sent him a scrutinizing look, and yet again backed away from him slightly. As if sensing a challenge, Tymmie took a half-step forward, enjoying how his physical proximity made her uncomfortable and anxious.

"And what would those best interests be?" She posed shrewdly, her eyes darting around in an almost a paranoid fashion as she searched for enemies.

Tymmie chuckled, this time a bit lighter, "You're a very amusing little girl," He complimented, "Thinking I'm setting you up in plain view of some _Incinti _bigwigs."

"Pardon me for suspecting the Follower who wants me dead of dishonesty," She said in her familiar monotone dryness, shifting away again.

"Not dead, converted," He quickly corrected, "You're no fun if you're dead, Riley." He said, eyes gleaming yellow for an instant.

"You're avoiding my questions," Riley mumbled, "Which implies that you're stalling for something." One of the hands on her hips crawled around to rest on the small of her back and she grimaced.

A long index finger tapped her affectionately on the nose, "I _knew _you were the smart one," He said with false approval.

Her voice became softer, "What is this about, Tymmie?" Her gray eyes lifted to meet his, searching for something, "What do you want?" There was a slight furrow to her eyebrows, as if genuinely confused.

He seemed vaguely unnerved for a moment, her stare making him almost as uncomfortable as his hands' locations made her, but he cleared his throat and pulled her a little closer towards him. "You'll find out in time," He whispered somewhat menacingly, before his tone lightened, "You need to do me two favors." He drawled.

Riley could feel his heart thudding, his chest against hers, and the closeness between them was beginning to frighten her, especially when she could sense the darkened aura hanging around him like a second skin, "What sort of favors?" She mumbled back flatly.

"There's rumors floating around the higher ranked Followers that a member from the _Cinti _is coming," He said casually, like he was talking about the weather and not some foreboding power of doom. "Stronger than anyone you've ever come across."

The question was in her eyes, because he quickly elaborated, "Perhaps stronger than me," He admitted sourly, "And they're after a Daughter."

Riley felt something lodge up in her throat, "Why are you telling me this?" She whispered shakily.

He snorted, "Easy. I don't want some bastard _Incinti _Follower swooping in and ruining my plans. I have a reputation to protect, and I'll look like shit if some asshole converts the Daughters of the Moon when I have yet to convert _one_." When he mentioned 'one' his eyes flickered down at her and she felt his hunger for hope almost painfully strong, "_Infidi _will lose the advantage, and I can't have that."

Riley chewed on her lower lip, "So you want us to defeat this Follower so you, in turn, can defeat us?"

"Something like that."

She shook her head, "Why should I listen to you?"

He grinned, and the hand on her lower back trailed up slowly to rest between her shoulder blades, pushing her closer, "Because I, at least, am willing to give you a few more weeks of freedom." He hissed, "Which is more than what you're going to get from a _Cinti _member."

Riley's hands gently rested on Tymmie's chest, and she started to push him away, "What does this even have to do with why you wanted to talk to me in the first place?" She accused, beginning to feel the tinniest flickers of annoyance break passed her serene composure.

Tymmie's face actually morphed into a stoic mask, free of teasing, and Riley felt herself freeze mid-shove, "That's my second favor, this one just for you."

She was silent, an indicator for him to continue.

"Trysten is going to be coming for you," He paid no attention to how she flinched when he said his name, "It happens to all of the newly crossed over Followers, sooner or later."

"What happens?" She questioned dumbly, a wave of apprehension coming over her involuntarily.

"When people first lose their hope, you know what they crave the most?" He chided, continuing before she had the chance to answer, "They crave the hope of those most important to them." His lip hoops glinted with the curving of his lips, "So I'd be awfully careful, if I were you."

The words weighed heavily on her mind, and she felt a bit of nausea overcoming her, "Why are you warning me?" She spoke softly, terror and pain and longing all threatening to consume her.

His cold, black-nailed fingers trailed down her cheeks, his face hovering centimeters over hers, "Because I want Trysten to suffer," His said darkly, his tone drenched with an acrimony so intense Riley felt her blood run cold, "I want him to be denied the one thing he wants so desperately. I want him to be alone, cold, and tortured. I want him to fully comprehend what it means to surrender to weakness. I want him to-" His rant was cut off as Riley violently shoved him off of her, a demonstration of aggression that she normally never showed.

"You're sick," She said darkly, a quiet strength surrounding her as she glared at him, and Tymmie felt a smile creeping up on his face when he discovered he had pushed all of the correct buttons.

"You think _I'm _sick?" He questioned with a sugary false innocence, "You should see what Trysten's been up to, now that he's the Prince of the Night. All of those poor, helpless people begging for mercy-"

Riley backed away from him, her ears refusing to hear what Tymmie was telling her as hurt and betrayal stung her chest, "You're lying."

"Of course I am," He said in a manner that made it painfully apparent he was telling the truth, "After all, I'm a Follower, Riley. That's what we Followers do." His eyes shined yellow, "We lie."

Silence reigned between the two as the implications of his words sunk in, and Riley felt herself losing control over her power as it began to draw upon the negative sentiments in the crowd.

"You'll understand better when you've figured yourself out," He said in a patronizing tone, "I can feel it in you even now. Remember our old talk, Riley? _Damnat quod non intellegunt (1)?_" There was a teasing quality in his words, "Stars burn brightest before they fall."

Riley's fingers curled into fists at her sides, "Please don't talk to me again," She politely, but coldly, requested, as she swerved on her heel and tried to navigate her way through the crowd.

Tymmie's smiled sinisterly, "I'm coming whether you like it or not Riley," He whispered, before calling after her, "Remember my first favor." A pause, "One of your friends could be in incredible danger," He said sarcastically, obviously not caring either way.

This made her pause in her step, and she tried to battle with the warring emotions inside of her. Finally, she looked over her shoulder, and wasn't surprised to see Tymmie staring her down.

He waved slightly, "I'll see you around, because eventually, _you _are going to come looking for _me._" He said, "Sweet dreams, Riley." He crooned before he dissolved into the shadows of the club.

Riley watched the spectacle with a sensation of fear so thick it lodged in her throat.

OoO

Tessa's eyes widened as she took in what the Follower beside her was saying, "A member of the _Cinti_? You've got to be shitting me." She groaned in exasperation, rubbing the bridge of her nose. At her elbows rested an empty soda can, as well as a half-downed gin and tonic. "Who is it after?"

Cheshire gave a cluck of disapproval, his index finger waggling side to side, "It's my turn now."

Tessa winced, she had just spent the past twenty minutes or so listening to Cheshire as he discussed the possible plans of the _Incinti. _So far, none of it had really sunk in, and she failed to grasp the horror of the situation, settling instead for ordering an alcoholic drink. This would be Cheshire's first question for her, and she tensed, mentally drawing conclusions of what he might ask.

Where do you live?

How does your power function?

What is your greatest fear?

Who are the people closest to you?

When are you at your weakest?

"What's your favorite movie?" Cheshire asked simply with a languid roll of his shoulders.

Tessa snorted out her sip of G&T, coughing a bit and thumping her chest, "Are you serious?" She demanded in a sort of relived amazement.

Cheshire nodded as he sipped at his own lager, "Answer the question."

Tessa paused, and blinked owlishly, "But…really?" She still wasn't able to comprehend why a Follower was so willing to sell out his own kind (well not exactly but close enough), and only wanted her entertainment preferences as compensation.

"Of course."

"Wow, um," Tessa scrambled to find the correct answer in her brain, having never really though about it before, "Old Grace Kelly movies, I guess." Ezra collected old, vintage films on his time off, and seeing as the Locklands had no cable, it was Tessa's only source for movies.

Cheshire seemed to mull this over, before smiling, _again_, "In regards to your previous question, I don't know. It's sort of classified information within the _Cinti,_ and those are hardly the types to leak out information." His smile stretched again, "My turn!" He paused, in deep thought, "Favorite drink?"

She didn't say anything, just indicated to the beverage below her. Her blue eyes narrowed, "When is the _Cinti _member supposed to be here?"

"Soon. It may be in Los Angeles even now," He supplied. "Would you rather have a snake or a hamster for a pet?"

Tessa could only shake her head in bewilderment at his odd questions, "A snake, probably. Hamsters die too fast." Her lips pursed as she took another drink, "Why does the _Cinti _member only want to destroy one of us-?" She was startled abruptly when she felt a hand close around her shoulder.

Whirling on her bar stool, she was amazed to meet the steady gaze of Los Angeles's resident empath, "Riley?" She asked in disbelief, "Aren't you supposed to be keeping tabs on Absinthe-" It was then that she noticed that despite Riley's calm countenance, there was a slight, panicky wave of emotions that were projecting from her. Tessa's eyes narrowed, "What's going on?"

Riley shook her head, "We need to find the others and leave as soon as possible to Jimena's." She paused, "I got a warning that a _Cinti _member-"

"Yeah, actually, that was just what-" Tessa turned to her side to face the stranger that had kept her occupied for the past half hour with his question game, and her jaw dropped when she realized that he had disappeared, "-he was saying."

Riley's eyebrows drew together in confusion, "Who?"

Tessa shook her head, wondering if she should tell her fellow goddess. After a few moments of inward debate, she settled for a half-truth, "An _Infidi _Follower told me about some _Incinti _plots against us."

The maroon haired girl's eyes widened a fraction, "Who?"

Tessa gave a half-hearted shrug, "Some guy. He said his name was Cheshire."

The tension dispelled instantly, and Tessa idly wondered what had gotten the normally docile girl so jumpy, "…like the cat?"

"Like the village," She replied vacantly, before it dawned on her, "Who told _you_?"

Riley seemed to be having her own internal war, before she gave up, sighing slightly, "Let's just go find the others, and we'll both explain everything at Jimena's."

Tessa eyed her critically for a moment before nodding, "Aria and Carlos were out dancing over there," She said with a general sweep of her arm, which she noticed, was a little sluggish.

Riley exhaled, "Have you been drinking?"

Tessa snorted, "Only one-" Her eyes widened when she noticed there were three empty glasses in front of her now, she blinked, "Or three." She admitted sheepishly, scratching her head as she did not recall having that much to drink.

The empath just shook her head slowly, "Don't let Aria know." She said blandly, obviously dreading the possible confrontation.

Tessa smiled, bringing her hand down over her face like a curtain, with it a slight golden aura. As soon as it had passed over her, it appeared as if she had completely sobered up, "Good as new!"

Riley, whose nerves were a bit too frazzled to go into a responsibility speech just breathed deeply in an attempt to get a grip on herself, "Let's go find Aria and Carlos."

Tessa blinked, "Where are Imy, Art, and Zahi?"

Riley's shoulders tensed slightly, something that did not go unnoticed by the illusionist, "Imy's been acting…strange tonight. I assume Art and Zahi both went to speak with her."

"Strange how?" Tessa queried as she launched herself off of the barstool, trailing after Riley as she used her empathetic ability to part the crowds.

Riley worried her lower lip, struggling to come up with a refined term for Imy's abnormal behavior recently. Apparently giving up, she exhaled, "She's been a bit of a bitch."

Tessa laughed, amazed that Riley had resorted to ordinary swear words, "That bad, huh?"

Riley shook her head, "I don't know. One minute, she's the same Imy I've known since third grade, the next she's a completely different person…" She trailed off, "One I don't like." She admitted softly.

Tessa replayed the actions of the teleporter over the past few days and she nodded as understanding dawned on her, "Like how she socked The Spawn in the face?"

Riley nodded, "Tatum and Imy have always bashed heads, but Imy has never hit her before." She paused, "And Tatum wasn't acting unusual enough to warrant a physical reaction of aggression."

"And she's been wanting to use her powers more," Tessa deducted, facing Riley, "Do you think this has anything to do with a Follower's influence? Like a _Cinti's, _for instance?"

The soft spoken girl was quiet for a moment, "That was one of the first things I checked for, to see if it was an outsider's manipulation. But so far, all the sentiments Imy's been projecting are completely her own." She paused, before continuing sadly, "And I was so sure I had felt a flicker of something at the RockOut last weekend…"

Tessa mulled this over, a bit of concern- as well as apprehension- surging up for her fellow Goddess. It wasn't like Imy to be so angry or condescending, normally she was the most playful and carefree of the four. If what Riley said was true…then something drastic was definitely going on with everyone's favorite teleporter.

"Is there a way your powers could have, I don't know, screwed up or something?" She posed.

Riley's features became a bit grim, "They've never been wrong before. It takes tremendous discipline to fake a feeling and have it be genuine. No one's been able to alter their feelings through willpower alone, at least not fully. Not even Followers like Tymmie, who's only been able to hide his emotions from me. It's not a matter of the mind, but of the heart…if that makes any sense." She mused intuitively.

"And your power reads emotions?" Tessa asked for clarification, "So you would know if Imy was being genuine?"

Riley nodded contemplatively, "It not only reads them, but it sees through fake projections, of clouded-over feelings. That's how I know whenever someone is lying." She paused, "If Imy were to be under the control of a Follower, I would know, since only the superficial emotions would be affected. But…but what Imy says she's feeling, she's actually _feeling._" Riley exhaled, "She honestly has conviction about whatever she's saying or doing, and that's what frightens me the most."

Tessa groaned, she _so _did not want to think about this right now. And it didn't help that her mind was slightly fogged over from the alcohol she had consumed. Despite outward appearances, the stuff was still screwing her up internally and she found that her reaction time was a little sluggish as it took her longer than normal to process Riley's statements.

"Maybe we're just reading too much into this?" She muttered, "After all, everyone's entitled to have a bad week. It happens to the best of people."

Riley, still walking forward, paused in her step slightly, "If this were any other person, I would agree with you. But I've known Imy for almost a decade, we grew up together. This isn't how she acts. She's been mad before, but she recovers quickly. It's been a week, and each day she gets worse." She licked her lips nervously, "It feels like…we're losing her."

Tessa thought of a response to that, but was cut short when she saw a familiar face in the crowd, "Isn't that the guy who used to hang out with Aria?" She questioned out loud, seeing a familiar light blond head in the crowd.

Riley's introspection was cut short when she heard the illusionist, and her head snapped up, "Where?" She murmured.

Tessa pointed discretely to the side, "Across the dance floor. It's hard to tell, since we're so far away, but he looks like him-" She squinted, and as soon as she had caught sight of the blond boy, her shoulders slumped, "Never mind, he's gone now."

Riley's eyes narrowed, "Why would Ian be at a Follower club?" She asked softly.

Tessa shrugged, "It might not have been him, I've only seen the guy a handful of times." She giggled a bit, "Besides, I'm sort of drunk."

Riley appeared pensive for a beat longer, before she noticeably calmed down, "I'll go get Imy, Art, and Zahi, you go grab Carlos and Aria, and I'll meet you at the front exit?"

"Sounds good," Tessa said, a hiccup bursting from her mouth, "I'm off then, be careful." She said as she strode off towards where she saw the couple previously.

Riley took a deep breath, and turned around to head back towards the stage area. She was shocked to see Zahi, standing only a few feet away. He appeared slightly disheveled, his normally slicked back hair tousled and his eyes less dark brown in color and a bit more amber than usual.

"I was just about to come find you," Riley said, looking behind him, "Where are Imy and Art?"

Zahi's face became a scowl, "They aren't with you?" He asked crossly.

Riley shook her head, staring at him in evaluation, "What happened to you?" She asked with genuine concern.

He shook his head with an expression of distaste, "Had an…irritating run in with an _Incinti _Follower." He said casually before his tone hardened, "When was the last time you saw them?"

Riley blinked, "After Imy had gone off stage."

Zahi's posture stiffened, "Let's go look for them." He said gesturing with a turn of his head as he went backstage. Riley followed after him.

"What's wrong?" She could feel the agitation around him as it swarmed like a nest of angry hornets.

"The person I ran into was a member of Absinthe, from the sound of it, their leader is after Imy for some reason." He explained calmly, despite his emotions spiking.

Riley's heart rate increased along with her pace.

OoO

Imy shivered as she and Art were walking back towards the door for the club, a repulsive sensation crawling up her spine. Art, to her side, paused in his step and eyed his girlfriend.

"What's wrong?"

Imy opened her mouth to reply, but something different spewed out of it instead, "_O Mater Luna, regina nocis, adiuvo me nunc."_

Art noticeably tensed, whirling around as his green stare searched the shadows, "Followers?" He asked carefully.

Imy froze, the prayer was only something that came out involuntarily when a Daughter was in significant danger. She mimicked Art's actions, paranoia taking over her as she tried to locate the unseen threat, "I'm not sure, it felt like one-"

Suddenly, as if he were struck down by lightening, Art crumpled to the ground, an expression of pure horror etched onto his face.

"Art!" Cried Imy desperately, darting to his side and crouching down beside him. She cradled his head in her lap and closed her eyes. She could feel the darkness hovering around the former _servus's _head and immediately deducted that he had been a victim of a telepathic attack. Relief filled her when she noticed that the shadows were dissipating, indicating that the boy's condition wasn't permanent.

But who would have that sort of power-?

"Hello, Imy isn't it?" Came a drawl from Erebus's doorway, and the teleporter froze in recognition of the voice, "You'll have to forgive me, I'm not so good at names."

She felt her heart slow down to a crawl as she hesitantly turned around. Her golden eyes widened in raw terror when she stared down the man who had taken out Art with a single blow.

Tymmie leaned against a wall, absently inhaling on a cigarette perched delicately between his two fingers. The moonlight cast shadows over his cold features and his eyes glinted eerily like a cat's. To his side stood a Follower Imy didn't recognize, a twenty something male with square-cut features and tawny hair.

Imy felt her power spike as rage replaced her fear, eyeing the manipulative bastard with pure hatred, "What did you do to Art?" She demanded.

Tymmie took another nonplussed drag, "Who?" He asked with fake ignorance.

The white light that often signified the use of Imy's abilities seemed to encompass her, "You know who."

The second in command of _Infidi _snorted, and took a few steps in Imy's direction. The moon amulet draped around her neck emitted violent sparks and the other Follower at Tymmie's side winced in pain. "_That _weakling?" Tymmie scoffed as he exhaled a perfect smoke ring, "I thought I was doing you a favor."

Imy's nostrils flared, and her stance widened, her mind assessing the countless drills she had run with Jimena last week as she faced down the Follower, "What do you want?"

Tymmie laughed, the sound was callous and cutting, "What all Followers want, I was searching for some hope and as luck would have it, I ran into a Daughter of the Moon."

Imy grit her teeth, and was about to charge him, but she noticed a flicker in the shadows by Art's head. Coldness grasped her heart when she discovered that she had all but forgotten Tymmie's counterpart, and she quickly latched onto Art and prepared to teleport him to safety.

She was cut off by a heavy, sinking sensation that dragged her back to the ground and dispersed the light that was beginning to surround her. She gasped as she felt something akin to worms or maggots crawling through her skull and her hands shot up instinctively to grab the sides of her head.

"How-?!" Imy spat, and her air left her when she realized that the other Follower with Tymmie was now beside Art, his hands over the boy's eyes while his stare grew yellow.

"No!" She screamed, mustering enough willpower to struggle against Tymmie's mental hold and launch herself at the young man. She was able to tackle him in the side, and after a surprised little 'oof' the man's concentration was broken.

Tymmie sighed, "You are positively annoying," He said with a sniff of disdain, "Giving my new recruits so much trouble."

Imy panted as she battled to break the painful grip on her thoughts. She could feel her mind being tugged into the dark recesses of Tymmie's worst memories, and she fought against it as hard as she could.

Tymmie turned and faced his oddly calm underling, "This is going to get nasty in a little bit." He ordered flatly.

The young man seemed to pick up on his drift, because he gave an odd grin before vanishing into the shadows.

Tymmie sauntered forward towards the prostrate goddess, cracking his neck from side to side and stubbing out his cigarette underneath his boot, "Your choice, you or your little _servus _first?"

Imy stifled the scream of frustration bubbling up in her throat and she prayed frantically that one of the other Daughters, Carlos, or Zahi could sense her dangerous situation intuitively. "Help me," She cried out to no one in particular as she felt her resolve weakening and her knees give out. She turned her head up to gaze at her tormentor and was surprised to notice that he wasn't even giving her a second glance, his eyes seemed trained to the shadows, watching the darkness expectantly.

Suddenly, there was this crushing, cold sensation that smothered her like a blanket. The mental attack on her psyche was dispersed instantly as a raw chill overtook her instead. Imy collapsed onto the ground and started to cough pathetically, wincing as something frostbitten seemed to settle into her very blood.

Tymmie staggered a bit from his crouch, a flash of shock over his eyes before he settled back into a nonplussed expression, "Been wondering when you were going to show up." He croaked out idly.

"Get away from here," Came a surprisingly soft voice, and Imy's eyes rolled up as she gazed at the figure who had suddenly appeared.

It was a strikingly beautiful girl, who appeared to be about the same age as Imy, perhaps a year or so younger with haunting onyx colored eyes. She was lithe in build, tall and elegant, and Imy couldn't help but feel that there was something tremendously otherworldly about her.

"Or what? You going to give me a spanking?" He jeered with a suggestive wink.

The frozen feeling in the air intensified, and Imy began to cough violently once again. Tymmie backed away cautiously, his hands in a surrendering position.

"Alright, alright, I'll give you this round," He said, his tone still playful despite the fact that he was retreating, "But you can't protect them forever." Still backing up, Tymmie molded into the shadows.

As soon as he had vanished, the icy sensation went with him and Imy inhaled deeply, her hand going around her throat as she sat up abruptly, inching backwards with the heels of her boots. She glanced at Art, and allowed her heart to beat steady when she saw him beginning to stir.

"Are you alright?" Came the mystery girl as she sent Imy a side glance.

Imy nodded fervently, "What the hell was that?"

The girl gave a rather cryptic smile, "You should look out for your friend, he was trapped in one of the scum's memories," She instructed.

Imy scrambled up and began to promptly slap Art across the face, "Wake up!" She demanded fussily, like an old wife over her husband who had fallen asleep during church.

Art groaned, and rolled over sluggishly, "Stop hitting me…" He murmured.

Imy exhaled, and turned around, "Thank-"

Her words fell when she realized that as quickly as her unknown savior had appeared, she had vanished into the night.

OoO

Tymmie walked down the narrow hallway, his newest recruit flanking him on his side as he reached the end of the passageway. The man next to him seemed uneasy or nervous, as this would be his first time seeing the man who controlled _Infidi _with an iron fist in a velvet glove.

"What's he like?" Mused the man next to Tymmie, as he struggled to keep up with the lieutenant's long strides.

"Cheshire, he's the most ruthless bastard I've ever met," Tymmie said off-handedly, his hand resting on an elaborate door handle, his cold stare flickered to the man, "Perhaps you better wait outside."

Cheshire nodded, and quickly hid within the coiling shadows of the hallway.

Tymmie shoved open the door without any hesitation, taking steady, sure steps to an ornate marble writing desk, where a man sat with his back towards the entry.

"She's here," Was all the second-in-command said, a bit of unease in his tone.

The man turned around, and a cruel smile curled up his face, "Very good." A pause, "Things will get interesting now- that _Cinti _member will have her work cut out for her."

Tymmie shook his head, "She's very strong, she may be too much for her to handle-"

"Then we will simply sit idle and watch our enemies destroy each other," Responded the wise voice carefully. A few moments of silence, before, "You may go. Excellent work."

Tymmie gave the barest inclination of his head, and quickly exited the meeting room.

"Very interesting," Mused Lambert out loud to himself once again, his eyes looking through the window and at the night sky.

**OoO**

Oy, this was a beastly chapter. But the rest should be easier to write : ) I'm just now realizing that this fic might become as long as _Nox Noctis. _I really, really hope this isn't the case, because, you know, that story took me over two years to finish. Yeah, that sucked.

_Note:_

1. _Damnat quod non intellegunt- _They condemn what they do not understand. A reference to book two when Tymmie tells Riley about her potential as a Follower.

_**Up Next: **_More new students? Turney High seems to be hitting its quota for transfers…

Remember kiddies, feedback of any sort makes Nym a happy camper. Happy campers are statistically proven to be faster writers. Trufax.

Till next time!


	11. Lunch Hunch

_Night's Children: Acteus Reus_

_AN: _Awk. Ward.

**Chapter Nine: Lunch Hunch**

Imy didn't know whether to be relieved or suspicious when Tatum didn't appear at school the next Monday. Based upon the odd occurrences that had been happening lately, any action that was just slightly out of the ordinary was met with intense scrutiny, and Imy knew none of the Daughters of the Moon could afford to take any chances.

Imy wasn't sure how she felt about Riley and Tessa's claims that a _Cinti _was coming after one of the Daughters. It seemed a little sketchy, especially since Tessa and Riley both seemed rather abashed when they were asked who their sources were by Jimena. Imy outright snorted when she heard that it was _Tymmie, _the same bastard who had attacked her and Art, who gave the warning, as well as his underling. It didn't add up, and Imy knew better than to trust a Follower, Riley and Tessa should as well.

But then, after what she had experienced Saturday night, she wasn't sure what to believe.

Imy had lost hours of sleep, tossing and turning in her bed, as her mind mulled over who her mysterious savoir had been. Imy was sure she had never seen the girl before in her life, nor had she ever encountered a power like the one she dealt. It didn't make sense, almost everything about the girl screamed Follower, yet she had saved Imy and Art, going after Tymmie instead. If she was the supposed _Cinti, _then would have been the perfect time to strike, since destroying one Daughter of the Moon severely weakened the others, regardless of who the _Cinti's _primary target was.

It didn't make sense.

Imy found herself oddly hesitant to share her story with the other Daughters, Carlos, and Jimena when they had met back up at the apartment, settling instead for a half-truth. Judging by the nervous looks in Tessa and Riley's eyes, they had been telling half-truths as well so there was nothing stopping Imy from jumping on the deceit bandwagon. She said Tymmie had gotten afraid of something- which already wasn't honest as Tymmie didn't appear to be actually frightened of the girl, merely wary- and had disappeared. Since Art was unconscious at the time, he couldn't remember enough to contradict her.

So here she was, sitting impatiently at her desk, as she eyed Tatum's empty seat and seethed in anger because The Spawn wasn't around to give a no-felt apology to.

That's right, Imy had finally caved. Between her father's lectures and her mother's passive-aggressive guilt trips, she decided that swallowing her pride enough to apologize to the bitch who had trashed her band's equipment was better than being grounded indefinitely. But only marginally.

And now, said bitch wasn't even at school to fake-apologize to. Typical.

Imy exhaled angrily and chipped away at the florescent green polish on her nails, her shoulders stooped. Currently, she was sitting in her history class, a few minutes before the final tardy bell. She had been playing it safe lately, and teleporting to school before anyone was around.

Of course, if she were really playing it safe she wouldn't have been teleporting at all…

Imy promptly told her voice of reason to shut up, simultaneously as the bell to begin class rang. The teleporter was surprised to see Dwier filter in with the rest of the students, and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she saw him walk over to the teacher's desk. After a few hushed mumbles, the blond brother of The Spawn gave a grim nod and sauntered over, taking a seat two places in front of Imy's.

"Dwier, are you in this class now?" Imy greeted cheerily.

The boy seemed momentarily startled at being addressed, but he swerved in his seat and gave another flat nod, "I was transferred." He explained bluntly.

Imy smiled, "I feel bad for you then, this class sucks." She paused, a bit hesitant at first, "Where's your sister?"

Dwier arched an eyebrow, "The one you punched?"

Imy flushed, "Uh huh."

Dwier shrugged, "Faking sick, I think." He paused, "Don't worry about it too much. It had to be done by _someone._"

She picked up on his rather disdainful tone and she giggled a bit, "I don't know how you've managed to live with her for so long…"

Dwier shrugged again, and his eyes landed on the floor, staring at the tips of his sneakers. Imy noticed it was something he did whenever he was faced with an uncomfortable situation.

She paused, the kid was a bit socially inept, and she could sense his alienation from everyone around him. She reminded herself that Dwier was the new kid, one that wasn't very talkative to boot. Imy felt a wave of pity for the younger-brother type so she asked gently, "Are you doing anything for lunch?"

Dwier obviously didn't pick up on the hint, because he said dryly, "Eating, I guess."

Imy smiled again, "Want to eat with me and my friends?"

Dwier _almost _smiled back, before nodding and nervously turning back around in his seat, the hint of a blush on his cheeks.

"Today, class, we will be discussing Classic mythology and the influence of Greek customs on the Roman empire," Prattled Mr. Tosches, the history teacher, as he cleared his voice for lecture.

Imy almost rolled her eyes, the topic certainly warranted a little napping time for the overworked teleporter who could recite practically every Greek or Roman myth from memory with ease. Without any resistance, she folded her arms across the desk and her head slumped down.

OoO

Aria's heart seized up for a moment when she realized that she was not alone in the hallway. It was the middle of class, Aria had forgotten her homework in her locker and left to get it, so the place was rather desolate seeing that everyone was in their classrooms.

A slight tap on her shoulder caused the teenaged healer to whirl around on her heel, fists poised and ready to punch someone. Her fists and jaw dropped when her light brown eyes connected with Ian's darker ones.

"Um, uh, wow," She muttered intelligibly.

Ian, looking handsome as always as he leaned against the lockers casually, cleared his throat, "Hey Aria."

The healer tried to get her bearings together, "Hi." She said, fidgeting slightly as she gripped her textbook tightly.

The blond cleared his throat awkwardly, "I wanted to apologize," He proclaimed, yet again catching Aria off guard.

"What?" She stammered out, completely flabbergasted.

"At the RockOut, I was kind of an ass to you and Carmen-"

"Carlos," She corrected dumbly.

"Right, Carlos, and I'm sorry." He said, his voice sounding a bit too rehearsed for Aria's tastes as his fingers lightly rested in the pockets of his washed-out jeans, "I mean, it's not any of my business-"

Aria shook her head, "I don't blame you," She colored a bit, "Actually, I'm amazed that you're talking to me," She admitted sheepishly.

Ian gave a small little half smile, and it was easy to see why Aria once had a major crush on him, "We're still friends, aren't we?"

Aria's eyebrows furrowed into confusion, a bit shocked at seeing how…_easily _Ian was taking this. Of course, what they had was nothing serious, but the fact was that it was a huge blow to a guy's ego to be dumped for another guy. It happened in high school all of the time, but rarely did it go over well. Aria stared at him with something akin to amazement, he was being wonderful about all of this.

She gave a genuine smile, "Of course."

Ian grinned back, and his hand moved to rest on her shoulder, but he fought it down, "I'm glad." He paused, and started to fish through his back pocket, taking out a folded up sheet of yellow paper, "Here, take this."

Aria grabbed the small flyer cautiously, "What is it?"

"A party invite. My parents are out of town this weekend," Ian, noticing the uncertain look in Aria's eyes, quickly clarified, "You can bring Carlos if you want." He winked, "It'll be fun, it's a toga party after all."

Aria paled, "Toga party?"

"Yeah, crazy isn't it? The new girl in my art class gave me the idea," Ian replied.

Aria's eyes widened, "Tatum?"

Ian shrugged, "I don't know. She just sort of joined the conversation," He paused, his eyes glancing up to the clock that hung on the wall expectantly, "I got to go, but I'll see you there?"

Aria hesitated, all of her weekends for the next year and a half were dedicated to fighting immortal evil, there wasn't exactly room for a social outing. But when she stared at Ian, and saw his hopeful expression, she found it hard to refuse out right, "I'll try." She settled on carefully.

Ian nodded, and turned away, heading towards whatever class he was absent from, "See you Friday!" He called over his shoulder.

Aria sighed and gingerly placed the flyer inside her purse, before leaving to go to her next class.

OoO

"A toga party?" Imy muttered dumbly as she stared at the flyer Ian had given her a few moments ago. Currently, she was walking down the hall and out towards the courtyard, since the bell for lunch had just rang. Next to her was Riley, head lowered as she stared at the ground while she walked.

"It is a bit odd, considering our…profession," Riley mused, her own yellow paper tucked away in her messenger bag.

Imy snorted, "I wasn't even thinking about that."

Riley rose an eyebrow slightly, bemused.

"I mean, who throws a _toga party _nowadays? That shit is straight up eighties." Imy said, shaking her head, "What's next? Mullets and hair metal? Of all the lame ideas for a theme…"

Riley didn't say anything, but there was the smallest of amused grins tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Imy paused in her step, and quickly smacked her palm against her forehead, "Shit!" She proclaimed.

Riley tilted her head to the side, "What is it?"

"I completely forgot about Dwier!" She mumbled, doing a perfect about-face and grabbing onto Riley's elbow, dragging her along with her.

"Dwier?" The startled empath questioned as she struggled to regain her footing.

"I invited him to eat lunch with us since he's a social moron," Imy explained hurriedly, "But he'll probably think I've blown him off and will hate me forever."

Riley nodded sagely, "Probably."

Imy huffed and rolled her eyes, "Thanks for your everlasting support."

She shrugged, "It's what I'm here for."

A light blond head caught Imy's attention amidst the sea of teenagers, "Oy! Dwier!" She cried, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Her best friend winced, and inwardly knew she would miss her hearing, "Is that entirely necessary?"

"DWIER!" She called louder, seeing that the boy hadn't heard her.

Many people turned around to glare at the obnoxious voice, but upon realization of who it belonged to, simply groaned and kept walking. Imy had a rather nefarious reputation of being Turney High's resident bubbly psycho.

Dwier, at the clear opposite end of the hall, finally heard Imy's persistent yelling and slowly turned around. Instead of waving, or even mumbling a hello, he just walked over to the pair, giving Riley the standard grunt, and Imy an awful attempt at a smile.

"Sorry, Dwier, I completely forgot," Imy stammered, slamming her palm against her forehead.

The quiet boy only gave a hunch of his shoulders, indicating that it wasn't a big deal.

The trio were soon interrupted by Mr. Tosches as he appeared in the hallway, "Zalank!" He barked, striding over to the three with a reproachful glare.

"He can't mean you," Imy proclaimed, Riley _never _pissed off teachers. It was probably engraved in stone somewhere.

Riley sighed, "Zalank isn't a common name," She turned and said calmly, "Yes, Mr. Tosches?"

"Did you forget about the lunch meeting I set up with the grant committee for you?" He grunted, and Riley's face paled slightly, "I'll take that as a yes." He muttered sourly, "Come on, it starts in ten minutes." Without waiting for a response, he swerved on his heel and started stomping off towards his office.

Riley looked at Dwier and Imy apologetically, "I have to go," She said quietly, "Some other time."

Imy gaped at her best friend, "What's going on?"

Riley exhaled, "Mr. Tosches is trying to get me some financial aide for college, I keep telling him I won't need it but…" She trailed off with a simple shrug of her shoulders, "He's been really persistent about it."

Imy's eyes widened at the implication of her best friend's words. Despite Riley's claims, there was no way she could attend college without any monetary support, and if she wasn't even considering college with her brains… "Riley, are you saying-?" Imy let it hang in the air uncomfortably.

Her best friend gave a meaningful look at Dwier, "I'll talk to you about it later." She paused, "You and Dwier have fun."

Imy stood there with a face of disbelief as she watched her best friend disappear into the crowd. It wasn't until a hesitant hand landed on her shoulder that reality seemed to dawn upon her and she turned around to meet Dwier's ever-blank expression.

"Something wrong?" His words were mellow, but Imy could sense the very, _very _subtle tinges of concern in his tone.

Imy quickly plastered on a smile and pretended that nothing was going on, "Nope! I just space out sometimes…" She rambled apologetically, before a flicker of inspiration appeared across her features, "Why don't we go try out that new sushi place? You like sushi, right?"

Dwier responded with an unintelligible grunt.

Imy smirked and grabbed his wrist, something that made him color instantly, before she started dragging him off, "I'll take that as a yes."

OoO

Art scratched his head as he sat across the table from Aria, "So you don't know where Imy went?" He murmured awkwardly as the healer across from him nibbled on a sandwich, distraction apparent in her eyes.

Aria shrugged, "No, I haven't seen her since second hour," She paused, and another troubled look crossed over her features.

Art, sensing her unease, calmly asked, "What's up?"

Aria sighed, rubbing her temples as if she had a horrible migraine, "Ian's been acting strange…"

Art snorted. Despite his generally amiable nature, Ian was one of the few people he could just _not _get along with.

She glared at him over her sandwich, "He's not that bad." She defended carefully, an uneasiness crossing her features again, "That's sort of the problem."

Art rose an eyebrow and was about to ask the healing goddess to elaborate when Carlos strode up, sliding in effortlessly next to Aria. Art cleared his throat, "Carlos, have you seen Imy?" He asked the surfer, who, as always, had a rather noticeable odor about him.

Carlos shrugged, "Last I saw, she was hopping over the school's fence with that creepy guy."

Art's eyes widened in confusion, "Creepy guy?"

The other boy nodded, and failed to elaborate as he began to steal bits and pieces of Aria's lunch. The girl was too distracted with her thoughts to give him a proper berating.

Art fell silent as he wondered exactly who his girlfriend was sneaking off with. Slowly, he stood up and prepared to leave.

"Where you going?" Carlos asked, chomping viciously on a few potato chips he had stuffed into his mouth.

Art gave a wane smile, "Library, I have an English paper due." He lied smoothly, walking away with his books tucked under his arm.

Carlos watched him go, then turned to Aria, "What's his problem?"

She shrugged.

Carlos's eyes narrowed, "What's _your _problem?"

She seemed to debate telling him, but one look at her boyfriend sealed her resolve, "Ian's being weird."

The surfer blinked a few times, "The one you dumped?"

She colored a bit before hesitantly nodding, "He invited me- _us_- to a party at his house."

Carlos stared at her for a few beats, "What's wrong with that?"

Aria chewed absently on her lower lip, "You don't find it a bit odd?"

Carlos shook his head, "Sounds like someone's paranoid," He said offhandedly, stealing Aria's sandwich and chomping down.

She blinked, a somewhat dazed expression, before she gave a hesitant nod, "You're probably right. For once," She paused, and a hoity expression came across her face when she saw most of her lunch was gone. Without thinking, she smacked Carlos on the back of the head, "Bring your own damn lunch!"

Carlos rubbed the back of his head, sulking. "You're so mean to me, Aria."

OoO

Art quickly caught up towards the fenced area of the school, concern worming its way into his chest. Unlike Imy, the motivation behind Art's following was not inspired by jealousy, rather panic. He had seen the way that the front man for Absinthe had been eying his girlfriend, and someone like him definitely fit the bill for 'the creepy guy'. He reached the perimeter of the school, expecting to see Imy being carted off by a Follower, or worse, a Regulator.

He was not expecting to see his girlfriend carting off the reclusive boy he had briefly met, the same reclusive boy he could remember Tatum saying had a massive crush on Imy. Something cold slipped into his stomach as he watched Imy say something to Dwier, laughter lighting up her features prettily while he blushed awkwardly as they strolled away.

Art's fist clenched, and he stared at the ground. Was Imy looking for someone else? Looking behind his back? She had seemed…distant lately, was Art the one that was driving her away? He knew that his background wasn't something easy to accept, but Imy had never seemed to be bothered by it. Was…was she looking for someone like Dwier? Someone normal.

Art scowled, hurt overcoming him. He was a gentle person, always seeking the fault within himself before looking and blaming outwards. What had he done wrong?

"Pardon me," came a voice from behind him, and Art reluctantly tore his eyes away from the retreating-he grimaced- couple. His eyes widened when he saw a girl before him.

She was beautiful. Long, flowing dark hair rested just above the curve of her back and piercing eyes staring straight through him. She was wearing what almost looked like a school uniform, with a pleated skirt, knee high socks, and navy sweater vest. A look of confusion, and a bit of annoyance, was on her face as she stared him down.

Art blinked, "Can I help you?" He questioned dumbly.

The girl gave out a long winded sigh, "Yes, actually," she had a British accent, he noted dully, "My name's Esme Tarat, I just transferred from Macrosian Academy, do you know where the office is?"

Blankly, Art jerked a thumb towards the admin building. She eyed him coolly before turning on her heel and walking away with a prim, "Thank you."

As soon as she was out of sight, Art shook his head to clear his vision. There was something…familiar about her. But almost as quickly as she had entered his life, she left, as he gave one last glance towards the school's fence before heading in to reluctantly finish his classes for the day.

**OoO**

Sorry this chapter sucks. It's awkward picking a story back up that I haven't looked at in so long… the length of the chapters are going to be getting shorter too, that way it's easier for me to update.

Thanks to everyone that is still bothering to read this, and thanks to those that requested me to continue. You're the reason why I'm posting this, folks : )

And yes, the lunch scene was supposed to mirror the one earlier, hehe I'm not losing my mind and rewriting the same scene twice in one story I promise!

**Next Up: **We're gonna party like it's 1999...B.C.!


	12. Don't Hold Me Up

**AN: **::brushes off the dust::

**Chapter Ten: Don't Hold Me Up**

Imy let out a satisfied yawn as she patted her stomach, strolling easily into the school building for afternoon classes. Lunch with Dwier had been surprisingly pleasant. The sushi had been great, and despite the fact that the conversation was somewhat lacking, Imy found it refreshing that someone could listen to her endless babble without flinching. Dwier was an excellent listener, and a rather nice guy underneath the several layers of social hostility.

Imy stretched her arms out over her head, a pout on her face as she surveyed the hallways. They were completely empty, something she found a little bit odd. Even though she was late coming back from lunch, it was only by five minutes or so, there should still have been a few lingering students hanging about.

"What's up with this place," she grumbled, strolling leisurely to her math class.

"Excuse me." Imy heard called out behind her, she ignored it, figuring that whoever it was wasn't directing the comment at her.

"Excuse me!" The call was a bit more persistent this time around, and Imy slowed her step, boots swerving to look behind her.

She almost wished that she hadn't.

The first thing that stood out about the girl was her eyes. Piercing, dark, and cold. She couldn't forget that stare if she tried. The long dark hair, the seemingly pale skin, the frigid aura hanging around her-

"You," Imy said softly, her eyes going wide and her jaw relaxing.

The girl across from her smiled, something dangerous flicking across her eyes, "Me." She said, and Imy noted the accent.

"You're the one from Erebus," Imy trailed off dumbly, "The one who-"

"Yes," said the girl who looked almost a year or two younger than her, the ethereal quality about her from the previous night gone, replaced with a cheery, almost impish and completely fake teenage persona, "My name's Esme. Can we talk?"

Imy's throat went dry, her eyes darting around the deserted hallway and then back to her impromptu savior from Erebus. "Okay." She said guardedly.

---

The final bell for school that day rang, and Riley stood up slowly, cracking her neck from side to side as she prepared to leave the classroom. She wasn't looking forward to the school day ending, knowing that a fat stack of homework, and even more importantly, another grueling session of training with Jimena and the others was in store. A tiny little groan escaped from her chapped lips as she pushed her chair in and headed for the exit.

She weaved around the crowds of departing students, her mind blocking out emotions absently. A wry smile crept up her normally blank face. That was one thing she had to be thankful of Jimena's sessions for. The prolonged meditations had helped her to 'filter' out emotions, and a normal person's feelings were easy to shove off to the side.

"Hey, Riley!" She heard yelled out as she made her way towards the bicycle racks where she always met her foster brother to walk home.

Confused, she turned around, surprised to see Jake chasing after her.

"Jake?" She muttered, almost disbelieving her eyes as she saw her friend and the drummer for The Discards jogging up to her, the metal chains on his pants jingling with every step, "What are you doing here?"

Jake Germain, despite being seventeen, wasn't enrolled at Turney High. He went to a specialized school for the arts across down, due to his talent in not only percussion but screenwriting. Since his dad had the payroll to support the ridiculously high tuition costs of the place, he had dropped public education all together. Twiggy, likewise, wasn't enrolled at Turney anymore, but for entirely different reasons. He had dropped out, seeing as the Strings class he shared with Riley was the only one he bothered showing up to.

The drummer came to an easy halt in front of the empath, a slight hitch to his breathing from not only the quick jog but the excited air about him. Riley's eyes narrowed, not sure what to make of the feelings of anticipation around her friend.

"I decided to stop by here after I spoke with Killian," he said finally, a goofy smile on his face that seemed not to fit all the way.

"Really?" Despite her normally reserved attitude, a flutter of hope flew through her chest. Killian could mean new instruments.

"Stuff's coming in a week. Sorry," Jake said quickly, connecting the dots she had made, "But he booked us at a club for a solid g."

Riley blinked.

"A _g,_ Riley," Jake emphasized, not sure if she was following him, "For one night."

She blinked again, "A G?"

Jake rolled his eyes, muttering something about clueless bookworms that Riley didn't quite catch, "A thousand dollars."

She immediately felt her heart drop in her stomach, "A thousand…" Instantly, she noticed that Jake's aura had fluctuated slightly, unease making itself clear along with his anticipation, "What's wrong?"

Jake shifted his weight from foot to foot, uncomfortably rubbing the back of his neck, "I'm not sure if we'll actually see it. The venue isn't exactly legit."

Suspicion made its way onto Riley's face, "What's the venue?"

Jake frowned, "Some place named Air Bus, they want us to headline for some band called-"

"No." Riley cut off almost immediately, her voice stern and resolved, "Tell him to cancel."

His face fell, "What? We can't tell him to cancel a thousand dollar gig-!"

Riley's mouth pressed into a grim line, "I played there last weekend with Round Table," at this, Jake gave a disgusted snort that Riley pretended to ignore, "There's no way I'm setting foot in that club again." She didn't mention how the feeling of something dark crawling under skin hadn't completely faded from memory, or how the very air in that place was enough to give her a panic attack. Plus, Erebus more than likely meant Tymmie. A shudder made its way through her when she remembered the sadistic taunts he had made about Trysten.

She also didn't mention that she definitely did not want Imy going back. Not after last time. It would be like throwing a bleeding person in shark infested waters.

"Riley, it's a _thousand dollars_ for _one _night, I already told Twiggy-"

Riley gave the rare hiss of frustration, if Twiggy knew about the price tag on the set, she would have to pry the gig from his money-grubbing, dead fingers. "You told Twiggy." She said in her infamous monotone.

Jake nodded, the chain from his nose to earlobe bouncing with the motion, "He has his heart set on it."

The empath frowned, not liking where this was going, "Did Killian ask why they were willing to pay double our normal fee?"

"No, but the stage manager over there said that she caught one of our shows at RockOut and felt it would be good for the atmosphere…or something," Jake said with a bit of a strain in his voice, obviously trying to recall the exact wording.

"I bet," she mumbled deadpan. Two Daughters parading around on stage in front of tens, possibly hundreds, of hungry Followers was definitely a perk to the club's entertainment.

"So you'll play?" Jake asked hopefully. After all, it was a little difficult to separate Riley's tone from sarcasm and monotone.

She shook her head, her voice softening, "I can't. And if you insist, then I'm afraid you'll have to find another guitarist to play."

Jake felt his resolve crumble slightly, "Aw, Riley, c'mon, don't be like that."

She gave a halfhearted shrug. "Sorry," she replied without much spirit.

The drummer sighed, "You know I won't play without you. Imy won't, either."

Riley gave a brief smile, "Twiggy's welcome to try being the one man band."

Jake snorted, running his fingers through his mohawk, "Get him drunk enough, he'll probably do it."

Riley's smile grew slightly, and Jake laughed along at the mental image.

"Oy, Riley!" Came the undeniable voice of Carlos as he made his way over.

Riley gave a sorrowful look at her friend, "I have to get going. Jimena has me doing…volunteer work after school."

Jake sighed heavily, giving her a hair ruffle goodbye. Riley tried not to flinch at the contact, and failed miserably. Jake let out a bark of laughter, "Alright. Take it easy Riley."

"Goodbye."

Jake slowly made his way over to his van, which Riley now noticed was parked in the teachers' lot. She gave a wry half-smile, and turned to face her brother of sorts.

"Who was that?" Carlos asked as he fell into step next to Riley.

"Jake, our drummer."

"Is he your boy~friend?" Carlos sing-songed as they began walking.

"No." Riley said flatly.

"Riley and Jake, sitting in a tree-"

Riley sighed heavily.

"Just making up for an entire childhood of not picking on you," he said easily, to which Riley rolled her eyes as the foster siblings made their way to Jimena's.

"Where's Aria?" Riley asked quietly, as her fellow Daughter and Carlos's girlfriend was supposed to be at Jimena's practice as well.

"Something about babysitting, she'll be there, but she'll be late," Carlos said easily, he looked at Riley and noticed her disbelieving stare, "What? It's not like she'll flake or anything. Aria'd never bail out on practice-"

The disbelief gained a knowing edge, "Oh really?"

Carlos sent her a confused stare, "What?"

Riley just looked down at her feet, "Never mind."

The conversation ending, the two continued to walk in a comfortable silence.

---

"Spill," Imy said bluntly as she stared down the girl who was probably only thirteen or fourteen, her hip jutting out at an angle and her arms crossed over her chest in an intimidating fashion.

"Calm down," the girl said, her bubbly façade of a personality tossed aside as she stared down the teleporter with equal attitude, her own hands resting on her hips, "I'm here to help you, Imy."

Imy snorted, "That's the thing, I have no idea who you are! I've never even met you before that night at Erebus!"

"Keep your voice down," the girl, 'Esme', scolded, eyes darting around the scenery, "We may be secluded but sound carries, and I'm sure you don't want your classmates learning about your special after school project."

The two girls were currently outside behind Turney's Smoker's Alley, far behind the actual smoking spots, where Imy and the other Daughters normally held their special occasions, like the picnic celebrating everyone's return from the hospital a few months ago. It was a rather desolate spot, which was good, because Imy intended on shouting. A lot.

"Whatever, answer my questions. How do you know Tymmie? How do you know my name? How did you do that frosty cold thing? Why are you here to help me? How-"

"Perhaps it would be easier for me to answer your questions if you took breaths between them," Esme commented drolly with a roll of her eyes. "First things first, as I told you, my name's Esme. I _don't _know Tymmie, only of him, and that will not be changing anytime soon if I have something to say about it. His kind are repulsive."

Imy rose her pierced eyebrow, "So you know about Followers?"

She could hear the condescension dripping off her words, "Of _course _I know about Followers. For someone who wants answers, you're awfully intent on rushing me."

Imy lowered her gaze to her boots, "Sorry," she muttered not fully sincerely.

Esme huffed, tossing her glossy hair over her shoulder, "_Anyways_, as I was _saying,_ my name is Esme, and I'm a Follower-"

Imy burst up from her sitting position, "Ah ha!"

"-of Ananke."

She sat back down, "A nun key?"

Esme gave a despairing sigh, "_Ananke,_ the Goddess of Destiny, surely your Magna Mater told you about her."

Imy racked her brain, she vaguely remembered a story about the mother of the three Fates, but she had been distracted towards the end of it, mainly because she was in the middle of a very interesting nap-

"From the vacant, slightly embarrassed expression, I'm going to assume that you don't remember it," Esme said calmly, the first tugs of a smile crawling on her face.

Imy looked back down at her feet, "Whatever. Explain what this has to do with me."

"I was once a Daughter of the Moon."

Well, whatever Imy had been expecting, it certainly hadn't been _that._ She almost fell out of her seat, "A Daughter of the-?"

"Yes. Well, at least, I had the potential to become one. The Atrox got to me first, before the Magna Mater, her name was Penelope back then, had a chance to tell me about my destiny."

"So you _are _a Follower?"

Esme's eyes narrowed, "No. I was crossed over, but Ananke intervened because that was not meant to be my destiny. I have Immortality, but not the need to take other's hope."

"Sounds like a load of bull," Imy commented delicately.

Esme groaned, "Look, I really don't care if you believe my story or not, but I'm telling you the truth out of your best interest. You're in grave danger."

Imy gave an exasperated toss of her hands, "Of course I am! Great, just great. Nothing like some weird little girl with a hokey-at best- backstory, no offense, saying my life's in danger when I have finals coming up and enough stress to feed a rhinoceros."

Esme frowned, "There's no need for dramatics," she looked down at a watch on her wrist, "Look, I don't have a whole lot of time, so I'm going to simplify the situation for you."

"Oh please, make sure to pronounce every syllable slowly, like you're talking to a third grader," Imy said snottily, "Who says I even believe you?"

"You have no reason not to, I did save your life a few nights ago," she said pointedly.

Well, then. That shut her up.

"Now, hopefully without any rude interruptions, if you would kindly let me tell you why Ananke sent me to protect you."

Imy gave a tight nod, "Fine."

"I suppose there's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it. Your father's a half-demon."

Oh, that was _rich. _She couldn't help the giggles and snorts that escaped her.

"Yeah, I'm sure. A demon of what, paper work? Alphabetical filing systems?" She said.

"No, the legends say he was sired by some sort of demon from the depths of hell itself, one that has the power to bend space and time, a power that Evil, The Atrox in particular, would greatly covet," a meaningful look crossed her eyes, "You can see why my Goddess Ananke can't allow this."

"You're completely crazy," Imy said flatly, moving to sit up, "My dad has problems bending his stress ball. You've made a mistake."

"Kyle Ormond, married to Catty Turner, formerly a Daughter of the Moon," Esme rattled off without preamble, causing Imy to slow in her tracks, "Your birth date? April 23rd, 2011. You've been seeing, unwisely, might I add, a former servus that goes by the alias Arthur King, and you are able to teleport. Your comrades are Riley Zalank, an empath, Tessa Lockland, an illusionist, and Aria-"

Numbly, Imy sat back down into her seat, "Perhaps you've got the right girl. Either way, what you're saying makes no sense."

"Well, if you could sustain your childish outbursts for a mere moment, I would be more than happy to enlighten you," Esme said calmly.

Imy inhaled, trying to summon up those patience exercises Jimena had to practically beat into her, "Alright…even though I highly suspect bullshit."

Esme looked like she wanted to retort, but wisely bit down her tongue, "Fair enough. I'm sure it must be a huge wave of new information to process, and I apologize for my bluntness, but time is of the essence. The Atrox has sent one of its best hunters from the Cinti to either capture your power, or…destroy you."

Imy paled, "What? Why?"

"It believes that you have the potential to harness your father's gifts, seeing as your inherited power from Selene is eerily similar to your mother's."

Imy tried really hard to stop the glazed over look in her eyes, "This makes no sense. They think I have my dad's-" she stopped the snort of incredulousness this time, "-powers because my Daughter powers are like my mom's?"

Esme frowned, "I'm not to clear on it myself, but my orders state that the demonic abilities worked in conjunction with time travel, sort of like an enhanced teleportation gift. That, as you see, could pose a serious headache on my Mother Goddess, as well as your own."

"How so?" Imy said carefully.

"Think about it," Esme said, struggling to simplify this even further, "If the Atrox were able to control time, to make certain things never happen, this war, and Ananke's plan for it, is going to have a severe lopsided advantage." She paused, blue eyes darkening, "They want you turned, Imy. And I, as an agent of Destiny, cannot allow that."

Imy rolled her eyes yet again, "There's no way I'm going to believe that there's going to be some Cinti member coming to Los Angeles after my ass."

"She's already here," Esme said coldly.

Imy blinked, "She?"

The girl nodded, "You know her. The Atrox has had her by your side for years, a tool to get you to succumb to your inner darkness, to provoke the worst of feelings inside of you."

She paled, the gears in her head frantically turning.

Esme cleared her throat delicately, "She goes by Tatum."

The gears in her head ground to a halt, "Tatum?"

Esme lowered her gaze respectfully, "Yes, I understand that it must be difficult to accept that one of your childhood friends was meant to destroy you-"

"I knew she was Spawn! I freaking KNEW IT!" Imy jeered almost happily, "Man, I am _so _glad I punched that bitch in the face!"

Esme blinked owlishly, "I beg your pardon?"

"Tatum's been a pain in the ass since forever, it all makes perfect sense now!" Imy said, her previous skepticism quickly discarded in favor of this new discovery. "Do we get to take her down?"

Esme coughed in her hand, "Well, I suppose, I was sent to guard you from harm-"

"Awesome, teach me how to kick her sorry ass," Imy said, dead serious.

Esme could only stare at the teleporter in a sort of confused horror, "This is no laughing matter!"

"Who's laughing?" Imy said, a hint of danger lurking behind her stare, "Tatum's made my life hell, and now that I know why, there's nothing standing in my way from taking her out."

Esme cleared her throat, digesting this, "If you insist…I could teach you a few meditations to counter the Cinti member's."

Imy nodded, "Meditations are my specialty," she said with two fingers crossed behind her back.

---

The second hand on the clock went at an agonizing pace as five pairs of eyes stared at it.

"Did you leave a message?" Tessa asked for about the fourth time as she, Aria, Riley, Carlos, and Jimena sat in the Magna Mater's living room, waiting with excruciating patience for their final member to arrive.

"Several," Jimena said dryly, impatience coating her tone as she all but glared at the clock, to her phone, to the clock again.

Aria rolled her eyes in aggravation, "Ugh, if Imy gets to play hooky, I definitely should be able to. My parents needed a sitter tonight," she said with a rather pointed look.

"Oh, trust me, Imy is going to have severe consequences for ditching," Jimena said, and a collective shudder went through all of the teenagers in the room.

"I'm sure she's just caught up with something," Tessa compromised, even though that 'something' had already lasted about two hours, "Riley, try calling Art or something. Maybe she just lost track of time."

Aria rolled her eyes with a scoff, "Typical."

Riley said nothing, but her hands dialed the numbers on the phone in her hand, and she pressed the receiver to her ear. A few seconds passed, then, "Art? Yes. No. Yes. Alright then."

She hung up the phone, and everyone blinked at the rather blunt conversation.

Riley stared at them all flatly, "Imy's not with him."

Carlos looked at his mom, "What now?"

Jimena glared sourly, "Now you all get to pick up her slack. Be sure to thank Imy personally for the extra hour of training you'll all have to do."

"What!" Aria hissed, "That's so unfair!"

"I don't play fair, and neither will the Atrox," Jimena said tensely, "Now assume the meditation poses."

Aria pouted, "But-!"

"Assume them!"

A very cranky silence was her response as the Healer crossed her legs and closed her eyes, muttering a few choice words for the teleporting goddess under her breath. Tessa also looked heavily annoyed, an expression that was replicated on Riley's face due to her picking up the negativity in the room.

Carlos whistled happily, as he prepared to leave the apartment, "Well, I'll leave you ladies to it then. I'm going to go surfing-"

"The hell you are," Jimena said flatly, her bad mood increasing, "Sit down."

Carlos blinked, "But isn't this, like, chick stuff-?"

"Sit. Down."

Carlos practically squeaked, "Sitting!" As he awkwardly assumed the same position next to Aria.

Jimena watched as the Daughters minus Imy began to enter the trances that the meditations provided, a frown growing on her features as she eyed Imy's empty spot.

---

A bright, white circle appeared above Imy's bed before one very exhausted teleporter toppled out of it onto her pillows. Imy gave an exaggerated yawn, she was dead tired. Esme had forced her to do grueling meditation sessions, sitting still for more than three seconds, let alone three hours, was enough of a daunting task for the very energetic Daughter.

She rolled onto her side, letting out a relieved breath of air as she faced her alarm and let her eyes drift closed in slumber.

Before surrendering to the dark corners of her consciousness, she couldn't help but feel as if she had forgotten something.

---

**AN: **It's probably weird to read this, but please bear with me while I write the transitioning chapter…it's been a while hehe :o)

I apologize for the delay!! Thanks to anyone still reading!


	13. Crescendo

**AN: Thanks to everyone who voted for this series in the DOTM awards!!**

**Chapter Eleven: Crescendo**

She was going to totally puke.

"Focus," came the overhead voice of Esme from the background, sounding more than a little annoyed.

The image that Imy saw of a tranquil section of the woods began to blur and distort around the edges, looking as if someone had decided to suck up the middle of a landscape painting with a straw.

It pulled, a black hole appearing out of nowhere as the scenery vanished, warping and pulling and making Imy want to barf up a lung.

"Very good," came the same voice, but distorted now, like someone was yelling into a loudspeaker.

Tiny, cold beads of sweat were beginning to bubble on Imy's forehead, and she felt her limbs grow heavy and numb.

Vanishing…everything was disappearing…

_But what came next?_

With that one thought, Imy's concentration was shut off, and everything snapped back into place as if it had been held by rubber bands. She groaned, panting as she sunk to her knees.

"Holy shit," she mumbled, out of breath.

"Shit, definitely. Not so sold on the holy part," Esme muttered bitterly, her lips pursed as she stood next to her student. "We've been working on this for a week now, and you've barely improved."

Imy shook her head, "Get off my ass. It feels unnatural-"

Esme rolled her eyes, "It feels unnatural," she mimicked in a whiny voice, causing Imy to pout, "You're not going to grow if you don't reach outside your comfort zone."

"There's comfort zones and there's feeling yourself turn into a pincushion," Imy snapped, crossing her arms and standing with somewhat shaky legs, "When I teleport, I teleport what I touch, and I definitely send it _somewhere._ Not this weird bullshit you've got me trying."

Esme matched her stubbornness easily, "That's because you've never tried any other possibility, Imy. The whole point of you opening your teleportation spheres without a set destination is to see where your limits lie. If we can get them to open, we can get them to travel _anywhere-_"

"Spare me the 'we' bull, I'm the one doing all the work!" Imy huffed.

Esme glared, "Your Magna Mater may tolerate this kind of attitude, but I will _not_. I have far too much riding on your childish shoulders-"

"You're calling me childish? How old are _you_, ten?"

She sniffed, "I'm quite old enough. And you're the one acting like a spoiled brat!"

Imy's jaw went slack, "What? Because I don't like running my insides through a cheese grater?"

"No, because you're not even willing to try. You're arrogant. This whole week I've abandoned my duties for you, and you're not even committing to the lessons I'm trying, and apparently failing, to teach you." Esme said coldly, glaring at the teleporter, "Now, are you going to try and vanquish Tatum before she gets you first? Surely you see the big picture here."

Imy swallowed hard, "Whatever. Just tell me the stupid chant again."

"It's an incantation-"

"What. Ever." Imy grumped, rolling her shoulders.

Esme frowned deeply for a few moments before taking a deep breath, "_Nocere Transitus Vagus._"

Imy repeated with absolutely no soul, "_Nocere Transitus Vagus."_

The usual white disk that appeared around her feet when she teleported appeared, before hissing with a dark electricity, morphing into a black hole. Slowly, she monitored her breathing, repeating the mantra over and over. The black hole spread, crawling over the grass and pulling everything but Imy in. Imy grunted in pain but honed her focus, and slowly, the picnic table that was resting in the corner wavered on the edge of the hole. It toppled in, swallowed with a burst of black sparks and Imy's eyes shot open.

"Whoa," she mumbled, and the darkness vanished, "What was that?"

Esme said, with a ghost of a smile on her face, "That was finally improvement."

---

"Let me see if I got this straight. You came over to our house, across town, in the middle of the night, because Imy didn't show up to rake leaves?" Said one very grumpy Kyle Ormond as he leaned against the counter in his kitchen, wearing some bunny patterned pajama pants that his daughter had gotten him for Christmas the year before.

"Yeah, downright irresponsible of her," grumbled Gordon Jacobson, for once in plainclothes and trying not to demand to search the premises for the errant Daughter of the Moon.

"This couldn't have waited until, say, after one in the morning?" Kyle said flatly, not quite annoyed, but confused and more than a little cranky from a lack of sleep.

Jacobson rose an eyebrow, "You would have preferred two?"

The glare Kyle leveled him with spoke a thousand words, thankfully, Jacobson wasn't fluid in tact.

"Look, I have a staff meeting tomorrow, so I'll let her know you stopped by, Mr.-?"

"Jacobson. Where is Ormond, if you don't mind me asking-"

"I do. I have no idea who you are, and you've been eying my dining room as if it were a chalk outline at a crime scene," Kyle said flatly.

Jacobson sniffed the air, "I'm Imy's…instructor."

Kyle's eyebrows creased, trying to envision the rough man in front of him with glasses and a coat that had leather elbow patches, "…I see."

"Look, let's just cut the crap," Kyle frowned at the use of language, "I'm with Jimena. Imy's been playing hooky, and it's high time you reigned that shit in."

Kyle's tolerating mood instantly vanished, "Tell Jimena that what Imy chooses to do _with her own life_ is not any of her concern."

Jacobson groaned, "Oh for Christ's sake, not you too. Look, grand destiny outweighs after school teatime, capiche?"

Kyle was already steering him out the door, "I'll let her know you stopped by, eventually, have a good night Mr.-"

"Detective!"

"-Gordonson."

"Jacobson, and whaddya mean-" the door slammed shut on his particularly big nose, "Eventually."

Almost as soon as the door shut, the cell phone in the now detective's back pocket went off. Groaning, Gordon flipped open the screen, "What?"

"This is why I told _you _to go and to _not _mention me," came Jimena's rather cross voice, "Kyle doesn't exactly see eye to eye with Selene."

"No shit."

Jimena sighed, "We'll try tomorrow. Until then, try to stay out of trouble and for Hera's sake cut back on the whiskey."

"You know, your seeing the future thing is really starting to get on my nerves-"

"I don't need premonition when I can practically smell the Jim Bean over the phone. Sober up next time you try to impersonate a teacher." The line went dead, and it was obvious that Jimena was more than a little perturbed.

Gordon snorted, shutting his phone, "Sweet dreams to you too, pookie."

---

"I'm getting damn annoyed," Aria said in a huff as she bent over on her bed, brush in hand as she painted her toenails a deep red, "Next time I see Imy, I'm giving her the ass chewing of a lifetime."

Tessa tossed a curtain of blonde hair over her shoulder, flipping through a magazine as she lay sprawled out on Aria's bedroom floor, "I think I'm more justified for giving the ass chewing. You used to pull the same shit."

Aria rolled her eyes, "That was so three months ago."

There was a ghost of a smirk on Tessa's face as she continued to read an article, absent hand crawling around, looking for the bowl of popcorn that was situated about two inches to the left of where she was pawing.

"One thing's for sure, I'm not dealing with miss crabby pants Magna Mater anymore," Aria said, "I stopped by this morning to drop off Carlos's stuff that he left here yesterday-" At this, Tessa waggled her eyebrows suggestively and Aria huffed, "-and instead of a 'How are you?' she totally had me recite out of this crusty old book that was a relic of Eileithyia or something-"

Tessa nodded, "I was doing illusions until I couldn't see straight-"

"Isn't that kind of the point of them?"

Tessa pointedly ignored her, "And then Jacobson threatened to make me take a home drug test that he stole from work."

Aria couldn't help the little vindictive giggle that escaped her mouth. Tessa finally managed to locate the popcorn bowl and promptly threw a handful of the stuff at her.

"Ugh, whore!" Aria said, trying to brush kernels out of her hair.

Tessa winked, finally placing down the magazine, "Have you seen Imy at all this week?" There was a serious tone to her voice that wasn't usually present.

Aria sighed, "Not really. She hasn't been to school and I texted her like a million times."

"That doesn't sound like her," Tessa said slowly, "Maybe Riley has a point."

At this, Aria's attention was fixed, "What do you mean?"

Tessa sat up, shaking her head slightly, "The other night, at Erebus, Riley told me that Imy was becoming someone she didn't like…and I'm starting to agree. Our loveable flake is becoming dead weight."

Aria worried her lower lip, "Yeah, I know." She paused, "Maybe we should go talk to her mom?"

Tessa snorted, "What would that accomplish? 'Oh, Hi Mrs. Turner, we were just concerned that your only child wasn't showing up to our little girl scout meetings to vanquish evil for all of eternity. Would you mind grounding her even though she can teleport away whenever she wants?'"

The healer grimaced, "Good point." She sighed, "Well, Ian's party is tonight, maybe she'll finally resurface."

Tessa looked down at the floor, "I hope so. What good is the Higher Calling if she doesn't even answer her phone?"

Aria said, with mock solemnity, "Deep."

Tessa snorted, "Shut up."

Aria stood up from her bed, heading over to her closet, "Enough of this talk, it's depressing me. Make yourself useful and help me pick out an outfit for tonight." She paused, "Are you sure you don't want to come? I mean, I know it's mostly Turney kids, but-"

"Can't. I have plans already," Tessa said, a weird shifty quality appearing on her face, before she quickly steered the conversation away, "Besides, a toga party? No thanks. I do enough pretending that I'm in Ancient Greece."

Aria laughed, "Good point." She eyed her closet critically, "So should I wear the Prada shoes or the Jimmy Chu's?"

"Who cares? They're both knockoffs."

"You are such a bitch sometimes."

"You love me for it."

---

Imy groaned as she practically staggered into her house, Esme in tow. The place was empty, as it was the middle of the day, meaning her father was at work and her mother was most likely out cold for at least a few more hours.

"Cute place," Esme said politely.

"Whatever," Imy muttered, managing to coordinate her noodle like limbs enough to get to the kitchen where a nice, cold pitcher of lemonade waited for her. Like a robot, she mechanically poured herself a glass, begrudgingly getting one for Esme as an afterthought.

"Here," she said less than kindly, thrusting the glass at the younger looking girl who grasped it and took a delicate sip. Imy took huge, monstrous gulps of hers by contrast.

"Thank you," Esme said calmly, eyeing the worn out Daughter as she sagged against her kitchen counter, boots that went up to her thigh being kicked off as her toes wiggled. "Perhaps I've been giving you a hard time," she said, measured.

Imy's eyebrows shot up, "Ya think? My bruises have bruises."

Esme's usual grim line of a mouth turned up for a slight smile, "You have to admit that you've made significant improvements in your powers. You can now teleport things without touching them, after all."

Imy snorted, waving her hand, causing her now empty glass to vanish in a white circle before reappearing in the kitchen, "Only for small stuff."

"Still, that's more than what you could do before." Esme paused, taking another thoughtful sip, "How would you like a night off?"

Imy's face lit up like a Christmas tree, "You would actually consider stopping this form of unusual torture?"

Esme sighed, "I am a merciful god."

There was a lengthy pause.

"Esme?"

"Yes?"

"…did you just make a funny?"

The girl huffed, "I am human, you know." She paused, "Besides, I sort of wanted to go to Ian's party."

Imy's eyes widened, "You know Ian?"

She shrugged, "I met him briefly in an art class, he seemed nice enough. I haven't been to a party in what feels like centuries."

The teleporter's eyes widened further, "Just how old are you again?"

Esme smirked, pressing a finger to her lips, "A lady never reveals her age," she paused, looking at the digital clock on top of the Turner home's oven, "Let's go pick out something to wear," she said somewhat wistfully, "I love dressing up."

Imy smiled, "Wait till you see my closet!"

Somewhere between trying on different pairs of sandals and makeup, Imy found herself having fun with the stoic agent of Ananke, even though it felt as if an element to getting ready for a party was missing…the distinct lack of pulling someone's teeth…

---

"Riley, you can't wear a librarian sweater to a toga party," Carlos said as he entered the room the two foster siblings shared, pulling off his sea-soaked shirt in the process, knowing Riley wouldn't care.

Riley didn't even look up from her history homework, "I don't plan on staying."

"But you'll look _uncool,_" Carlos said heavily, taking a seat next to her on the bed they shared.

Riley looked up from her textbook archly, and Carlos gave a beaming smile in return. She shook her head affably before returning to her homework.

"I'm really just going to see if Imy will be there."

The heavy tone with which the empath said the sentence killed Carlos's usual jovial mood, "You haven't heard from her yet?"

"It's been a week, she hasn't been to class," Riley said in what anyone else would have perceived as her usual tone, but Carlos knew her well enough to detect the trace of bitterness in his kid sister's words.

"That's weird, aren't you two usually attached at the hip?" Carlos asked carefully, going over to his side of the room to pull a clean shirt out of his chest of drawers.

Riley remained thoughtfully silent, turning pages in her book that she obviously wasn't reading anymore. Carlos continued to watch her, not for the first time noticing the dark, heavy bags under her eyes. As her roommate, he knew firsthand that the girl never got a full night's rest, usually every two or three hours he could register her rolling about in her bed, trying to get back to sleep. He had been debating if he should mention something to his mom, but something stilled his actions for some reason.

"She hasn't called me for band practice or anything at all," Riley mumbled, "Jake and Twiggy haven't heard from her either. I'm…concerned."

Which in Riley-speak meant she was having a near aneurysm, "Huh." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He wasn't used to giving the comforting words of advice, and Riley had never needed them before, "I guess…Well, yeah." He shifted his weight from foot to foot.

Riley cracked a rare smile, "I'll be fine," she mumbled quietly, noticing the feelings he was projecting around them. "I'm sure I can talk to her tonight."

Carlos snorted, "Yeah, and you'll stick out like a sore thumb because you'll be the only one not in some sort of stylish bed sheet, you incurable nerd."

Riley's eyes widened slightly.

"It needed to be said."

Riley's smile widened as well.

A knock at the door interrupted their talk, and both teens turned their heads to see Jimena leaning in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest and looking more than a little annoyed.

"I couldn't help but overhear," Jimena drawled slowly, "that Imy might grace some kid's party with her presence?"

Riley and Carlos both cringed slightly, knowing that the end was nigh for a certain teleporter if Jimena ever got her hands on her.

"When you see her, tell her that she needs to talk to me as soon as possible, understand?" Jimena said, her tone strongly implying her authority not only as the reincarnation of Pandia, but also of their maternal figure.

"Yes ma'am," Riley and Carlos both stated quickly.

Jimena smirked, "At ease, soldiers." She paused, noticing Riley's homework on her bed, "Carlos, don't you have homework you should be doing?"

Carlos shook his head, "Not until about midnight on Sunday, it's the weekend mom. Only incurable nerds do their homework on Friday afternoon."

Riley gave a long-suffering sigh.

Jimena's smirk stretched, "Oh, good for you then. Because I happen to have about three tomes worth of ancient Grecian poetry for you to read through-"

"And I suddenly remembered that I love calculus," Carlos said quickly, making a beeline for the backpack at the end of his bed.

Jimena smiled, "Play nice at the Saratoga kid's party," her glasses slid to the bridge of her nose, "There's no moon tonight. So be careful." And as an afterthought, "And I don't care if you have to drag her lazy ass here, make sure Imy talks to me."

The door closed behind her, and Riley and Carlos sent each other a look.

---

Imy smiled as she twirled in front of her mirror, enjoying the way the pleats at the bottom of her white mini dress spun around her with the motion. The tall, gold strappy sandals that Tessa had loaned her worked wonders for her legs and she could practically feel the confidence radiating around her.

"You look beautiful," Esme commented serenely from behind her.

Imy finished the half complete braid she had been working into her hair and spun around. One look at Esme was enough to make all her positive self image feelings vanish. No one should look that good in a bed sheet.

Imy groaned, the girl was wearing a _bed sheet_ and she looked way hotter than her. Her lower lip pouted.

Esme gave a small smile at that, looping a long, silver earring through, "Don't feel too bad. I have a lot of practice with this look."

Imy rose an eyebrow, "_Exactly _how old are you again?"

She smirked, but didn't answer the question, "Are you going to be asking that _servus _of yours to escort you?"

Imy rolled her eyes, no one used words like 'escort' anymore, "His name is Art, not _servus_. We've been over this," her voice dropped in sound, "And no, I'm not asking him to come with."

Esme's eyebrows arched, as she leaned over Imy's vanity, expertly applying eye makeup to her face, "Don't boyfriends typically go with their girlfriends to these sorts of things?"

Imy exhaled, somewhat with irritation, "Sure, when said boyfriend doesn't want to kill the host of the party."

She pursed her lips, "A _servus _with spine? How revolutionary."

Imy scowled, "His _name _is _Art-_"

Esme sighed, "I apologize. _Art _does know that you're going though, doesn't he?"

Imy suddenly became intensely focused on her hair, finishing braiding little ribbons of gold through it.

---

"Holy Hera, you look hot," Carlos said with an appreciative thumbs up as Aria met him outside of her parents' house.

She blushed, "My mom helped me," Tianna had been more than excited about the toga party, the humor not lost on the volunteer Daughter of the Moon as she made her daughter look like a genuine Grecian Goddess. A lazy smile spread over her face when she realized that Carlos had gone for the shirtless look with his toga, "You don't look half bad yourself."

He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, pulling her closer to him by sneaking an arm around the small of her back, "You want me, it's obvious."

She snorted, craning her neck up to steal a kiss when-

"Achem," came the somber, quiet tone of someone who could only be Riley.

Carlos rolled his eyes, stepping away from his girlfriend, "Riley, I love you, but you can be _such _a cockblocker."

"So I've heard," came Carlos's foster sister as she crossed her arms over her chest, her face flushed a deep red, "But could any of you please keep in mind that _I _feel whatever it is _you're_ feeling?" Her face flushed deeper as she awkwardly shifted her weight to the left.

Carlos smirked wickedly, "So that means-"

Aria smacked her hand against Carlos's chest, "Oh _shut up,_" she said snappishly, turning to greet her fellow Daughter of the Moon. Her mouth fell open, "_Please _tell me you're not going to the party in _that_."

Carlos groaned to her side, "I told her."

Riley said nothing, merely plucked off a piece of lint from her librarian sweater.

"Ian's going to make you change as soon as you get there," Aria said pointedly.

Riley shrugged, "I'm not planning on staying."

Aria caught the look in her eyes, "Let me guess, Imy?"

"Yes."

Carlos sighed, "Mom's got a death warrant on her, it seems."

"Poor her," Aria said with pursed lips, not without a hint of sarcasm. She brushed her thick, curly hair over her shoulder, "Well, let's get this show on the road, right?" She said, offering her arm to Carlos who let out a chuckle before hooking his through it, Riley following them a few steps back as they walked over to Ian's.

---

Imy could practically hear the sharp intake of breath that several guys made as she and Esme entered the large house, and she smiled wickedly. Tonight was going to be a good night.

The place was huge, thanks to Ian's famous mother, practically a mansion and it was full to near capacity with teenagers clad in togas. Imy laughed a little at the image of seeing the uniformity of clothes, especially with the huge, football players like Micah. Most of them just wore bed sheets like skirts, giving Imy a nice view of their athletic chest muscles, not that she was complaining. Heavy metal music, Ian's favorite, filled the area and she could tell from most of the people's rowdy behavior that drinking had already started.

"IMY!" Came the cry of the host, and she laughed when she saw Ian, obviously hammered, stumbling towards them, "I'm so glad you came!" He said, his handsome features lighting up as he slung his arms around her in a bear hug. Imy awkwardly patted his back.

Esme made a light clearing of her throat.

"Oh! And you! I don't know who you are-"

"Esme. We have art together."

"-but I'm so glad you came too!" He rambled, giving Esme a similar hug. Due to her smaller stature, her feet actually lifted up off of the ground. Imy let out a less than friendly snicker at seeing her stoic, mentor-figure's panicked face before she was set back on the ground.

"Looks like a good party," Imy said happily.

"GREAT party, keg's in the back," Ian with a drunken smile over his face, before his attention went back to Esme, "Hey, wanna dance?"

Esme smiled in a way that almost morphed her features entirely from innocent schoolgirl to seductress and Imy paused in her step for a moment, "Certainly," she said in a low tone, taking Ian's outstretched hand.

Imy watched, with a bit of a pout since Esme was asked first, as the two of them made their way into the throngs of dancing teenagers, before deciding that perhaps a cup of beer wouldn't be an altogether bad thing.


End file.
